Another US ship T- boned
 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41013686

WTF how does a 600ft plus Tanker ship sneak up on a Destroyer

And hit it right smack in the Middle ? T&P for the families of the lost Sailors

Supposedly the steering failed.

When transiting the straight as you enter towards Singapore all navy ships have full bridge crew manning the helm and as lookouts, as well as several watchstanders in Aft Steering where they can steer if Bridge looses steering. With this one hitting the port side aft near the harpoon misslie launchers, the navy ship clearly had the right of way. Yes this is a VERY busy place and a small error can quickly cause an issue. It is extremely difficult for me to believe that this was entirely an accident. Both the McCain and Fitzgerald are out of commission for a long time before they can get repaired. One odd thing that bothers me is I have been through this area over a dozen times and there isn't any cross traffic, everyone is going in or out, so its crazy for a T-bone type hit to happen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm0ocKUSkTk
About 1/2 way into this drone footage it flies over the straight and you can see how crowded it is and what I mean about cross traffic

A big 20 lane highway full of trucks with no brakes.

yes but they are all going parallel to each other, nobody swims sideways across that stream. Many at anchor just outside though, maybe the tanker was anchored and just got underway trying to get into position. It is odd

No. AIS tracks (shown in below linked thread) show 3 merchants jockeying at different speeds. Take it for what it is.

Also, rumor is McCain lost steering just before mishap

http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripert...7&postcount=15

They just relieved the admiral in charge of that fleet. Strong move, warranted with the loss of life though. I try to not go down the rabbit hole of intentional collisions, but these days its tough not to let the mind wander.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.84d6f0f29d0d

if they lost steering, there really isn't anything between the helm and the rudder that could have been any type of cyber attack, like some are saying on other sites. Even with aft steering control room manned and ready it could take a minute or so before they would be able to correct course. If when they lost steering control on the bridge as they were making a course correction, it could cause the ship to cross in front of the cargo vessel, before aft steering regained control. Very bad timing if this is the cause. I have seen this happen before but in wide open ocean, normally when they are doing engineering drills and shifting power. It could easily be a watchstanders mistake that caused this or mechanical failure.

the control system to the helm is redundant so even if they lost a synchro they would still have steering. My guess would be they must have lost power aft. Unbalanced load could have tripped a breaker or brought a generator offline. It would be sad, if the steering doesn't have redundant power sources like my radar system had. If AMR#1 went down it would auto switch to power coming from AMR#2 or 3.

Relieving the Admiral is an over reaction, especially if this is due to mechanical failure or a watchstanders mistake.

Sad to see such tragedies happen like this. No matter what the cause

Tough call - I've heard good things about that Admiral and he just got position in June - after being deputy. Problem is likely more institutional than location . Sacrificial Goat.

Yes - terrible place to lose steering - no matter how brief.

Good piece - worth the read

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/...dly-ship-22025

Not a good situation if these are due to fatigue and even worse if hackers are behind it,
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device