U.S. Navy Carrier Collides With Bulker off Port Said

 

The carrier USS Harry S. Truman has collided with a merchant vessel in the Mediterranean Sea, according to U.S. 6th Fleet. The carrier was minimally affected, a spokesman said. 

At about 2345 hours, Truman was operating in traffic just off Port Said when she collided with the bulker Besiktas-M. Cmdr. Timothy Gorman, a spokesman for 6th Fleet, confirmed that the collision "did not endanger" Truman, and no injuries or flooding have been reported. The vessel's nuclear propulsion plants are not affected, he said, and are in a "safe and stable condition." 

The Navy did not release information about the status and condition of the bulker, but AIS data suggests that Besiktas-M is currently at anchor off Port Said. Besiktas-M is a 2003-built Handymax, and is managed by Synergy and owned by a holding company in the Marshall Islands.

Besiktas-M has accumulated 55 deficiencies in three years, with multiple issues found during nine out of her last 10 port state control inspections. Her most recent inspection was in Aqaba last week. Upon boarding, Jordanian PSC officials found problems with her fire pump and with her voyage data recorder, both useful in the event of a collision. A previous inspection in Ravenna last year found deficiencies with abandon-ship drills, the ship's stability booklet, lifebuoys, MARPOL records and the ship's muster list.