“This trend demands more forceful action,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said. 
 
 Declaring that ”this trend needs more forceful action,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson called Monday morning for a global fleet-wide operational pause in order to understand the causes of the service’s spate of fatal at-sea collisions this year. 
 
 “I want our fleet commanders to get together with their leaders and their commands to ensure we’re taking all appropriate and immediate actions to ensure safe and effective operations around the world,” Richardson said in a video released Monday morning. 
 
 
 
 US Navy destroyer USS John McCain collides with Liberian-flagged tanker Alnic MC in the Strait of Malacca Aug, 21. Two months prior, destroyer Fitzgerald (DDG-62) collided with Philippine-flagged container ship ACX Crystal off the coast of Japan. 
 
 The review will assess ”the contributing factors, the root causes of these incidents,” he said. 
 
 
 
 His announcement came after the destroyer John S. McCain collided with an oil tanker near Singapore at 5:24 a.m. local time Monday in a high-traffic area of the South China Sea. 
 
 Ten sailors remained missing as of 11 a.m. East Coast time and five sailors sustained non-life threatening injuries, according to 7th Fleet. 
 
 It was the second such at-sea disaster for the Navy’s 7th Fleet this summer. A merchant vessel struck the destroyer Fitzgerald on June 17, opening a massive gash in its side that flooded living quarters and led to the drowning deaths of seven sailors. 
 
 CNO statement on recent incidents in the Pacific "Our primary concern at this point is the safety of the crew and ship - that is the focus of our efforts at the scene. We will continue to provide updates as events unfold and we learn more. I am also directing a comprehensive review into all potential factors contributing to these incidents." 
 
 The McCain collision was the fourth significant safety incident of 2017 involving a U.S. 7th Fleet ship. 
 
 In January, the cruiser Antietam ran aground in Tokyo Bay. 
 
 In May, the cruiser Lake Champlain collided with a Korean fishing boat in the Sea of Japan. 
 
 The review will look at operational tempo, performance, maintenance, equipment and personnel assessments, he said. 
 
 The review will also focus on tactical and navigational proficiency in surface warfare training and career development. 
 
 A diverse investigative team will spearhead the effort. Its ranks will include commissioned and enlisted sailors, the Navy’s Inspector General and outside experts, according to the CNO’s office. 
 
 “I want this team to be as diverse as they can be so that we don‘t miss anything in our review,” Richardson said. 
 
 
 
 The review will be ”on a very tight timeline,” he said. ”We need to get to it and take corrective action.” 
 
 ‘Water on deck!‘ ‘Get out!‘ — The Navy's official report of the Fitzgerald's catastrophe at sea Sailors had less than a minute to escape as seawater blasted through a massive hole in the destroyer Fitzgerald after a container ship struck its starboard side on June 19. 
 
 The Alnic MC, a Liberian-flagged oil tanker, struck the rear port side of the McCain at about 5:24 a.m. local time Monday. 
 
 Search and rescue efforts continued as of Monday evening in Singapore, and involved U.S. and Singaporean assets, according to the 7th Fleet’s latest statement on the disaster. 
 
 “Significant damage to the hull resulted in flooding to nearby compartments, including crew berthing, machinery, and communications rooms,” 7th Fleet said. ”Damage control efforts by the crew halted further flooding.” 
 
 
 
 USS John S. McCain collides with merchant ship What is known following the collision between the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) and the merchant vessel Alnic MC. 
 
 The ship made its way under its own power to Singapore, as did the amphibious assault ship America, which is providing a place for McCain sailors to eat and sleep. 
 
 Like with the Fitzgerald, questions of how a commercial ship could get so close to some of the most advanced destroyers in the world remain at the forefront. 
 
 “I don’t want to speculate how the incident happened, but this area — it’s a busy area, considering the two vessels are about to enter the traffic separation scheme,” said Adm. Datuk Zulkifili Abu Bakarthe, head of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, in a Monday press conference. 
 
 Rumor control with OS2 Larter Defense News' David Larter takes on some of the rumors surrounding the collision involving the USS John S. McCain. 
 
 The Navy last week released a report detailing the valor and chaos that took place after the Fitz was struck, but has yet to explain how the commercial ACX Crystal got that close in the first place. 
 
 About 80,000 vessels transit the strait annually through the strait, he said. 
 
 The ship suffered heavy flooding in two crew berthings and in a space known as ”shaft alley,” through which runs the shafts that connect to the engines to turn the ship’s propellers, according to an early internal report reviewed by Navy Times. 
 
 Unlike the collision between the destroyer Fitzgerald and the ACX Crystal off Japan in June, much of the crew would be up and preparing to eat breakfast and turn over watch stations at that time. 
 
 The Alnic MC is a 600-foot oil and chemical tanker with a gross tonnage of 30,000, according to a Navy release. The tanker is about three times the size of the McCain. 
 
 Images circulating on social media show a large hole in McCain that extends below the waterline below the ship’s aft missile deck. The ship’s propulsion was limited as it made its way to Singapore. 
 
 Incidents such as those with the McCain and Fitzgerald incidents are troubling, said Jan van Tol, a retired commander of three war ships who now serves as an analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. ||||| SINGAPORE: The US destroyer John S McCain collided with a tanker early on Monday (Aug 21) as the warship prepared to make a routine port call in Singapore, leaving a gaping hole in its hull and 10 sailors missing. 
 
 It was the second recent accident involving an American warship after a collision off Japan in June, raising questions about the US Pacific fleet and whether it is taking on too much as it tackles multiple challenges. 
 
 Here are some questions and answers about collision avoidance procedures and what may have caused the latest accident: 
 
 WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE FOR SHIPS PASSING? 
 
 
 
 Commercial vessels use standard marine radar and must also have an Automatic Identification System (AIS), which connects to satellites for vessel tracking and displays the location of other ships. 
 
 However navy vessels often fail to turn on these AIS systems, which can create problems for commercial shipping when their military counterparts use busy waterways, according to Claudia Norrgren, an associate director of VesselsValue which provides data about shipping. 
 
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 WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED THIS TIME? 
 
 
 
 Analysts say an investigation must be carried out before firm conclusions can be drawn but some suggested that the US Navy ship may not have stuck to the rules for ships in the Strait of Singapore. 
 
 Ridzwan Rahmat, a naval expert from Jane's by IHS Markit, said the accident happened on the eastern approach to the busy strait, in an area governed by a system that separates shipping into two lanes. 
 
 Initial indications suggest the tanker, the Alnic MC, was following the rules but the USS John S McCain may not have been in a proper position as it entered the waterway, he said. 
 
 He said it might be a sign of crew fatigue among the US Navy in the Pacific and there could be "a rethink on the kind of operations that the US Navy will be conducting moving forward, especially the freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea". 
 
 This photo released by the Royal Malaysian Navy shows the oil and chemical tanker Alnic MC after a collision with the US destroyer John S McCain. (Photo: Royal Malaysian Navy via AP) 
 
 The McCain earlier this month had carried out such a operation, which is designed to assert international navigational rights in the face of Chinese claims to most of the Sea. 
 
 AREN'T THERE ANY SAFEGUARDS? 
 
 
 
 There are well-established rules for vessels navigating waterways around Singapore, such as a mandatory reporting system for vessels over a certain size, said Jayendu Krishna, director of Drewry Maritime Advisors. 
 
 All ships are equipped with navigational safety equipment, and naval ships are likely to have even better and more high-tech systems, he added. 
 
 HOW OFTEN DOES THIS KIND OF THING HAPPEN? 
 
 
 
 The growth of maritime traffic in the busy trade routes around Singapore, particularly the Strait of Malacca and adjacent Strait of Singapore, has increased the risk of accidents and minor collisions are frequent, analysts say. 
 
 There are currently 268 cargo vessels in the Singapore Strait of the same type and size of the Alnic MC, said Norrgren of VesselsValue. 
 
 But such a major collision is unusual, she added. 
 
 ||||| The U.S. warship involved in a collision off Singapore has a name many Americans recognize — but not for its father-and-son namesakes. 
 
 Most know Sen. John S. McCain III, the Vietnam War hero who ran for president in 2000 and 2008. But it was his father and grandfather — both naval commanders who served during World War II — who inspired the naming of the 154-meter (505-foot) guided-missile destroyer. 
 
 The USS John S. McCain was damaged in a collision Monday morning with a Liberian-flagged oil tanker, leaving 10 sailors missing and another five injured. It was not immediately clear how the collision occurred. 
 
 Sen. McCain said he and his wife were praying for the sailors aboard. "Cindy & I are keeping America's sailors aboard the USS John McCain in our prayers tonight - appreciate the work of search & rescue crews," the Arizona Republican said on Twitter late Sunday U.S. time. 
 
 McCain himself had reached the rank of captain in a decorated military career marked by extensive injuries from torture and more than five years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. He turned to politics after his release in 1973. 
 
 Both his father and grandfather retired at the highest level of admiral — the first father-son duo to achieve four-star rank. 
 
 McCain Sr., who went by his middle name of Sidney, was the first of the family to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. His decades-long career included World War II command posts in the Pacific. He was on the deck of the ship aboard which Japan signed the instruments of surrender in August 1945 as a crowd of sailors looked on. 
 
 His son, McCain Jr., known as "Jack," fought in the war with the Navy's submarine fleet. He commanded U.S. forces in the Pacific during the Vietnam War before he retired in 1972. 
 
 The warship named after the admirals was commissioned in 1994 and is stationed with the Navy's 7th Fleet in the Pacific. Its crest includes an Oriental dragon, a reference to good fortune, bravery and a readiness "to strike quickly with deadly accuracy, recalling the McCain family's participation in support of the Pacific theater in World War II," according to the U.S. Navy website. 
 
 Sailors sometimes refer to the ship as "Big Bad John." But a 1994 tribute by the Arizona senator's younger brother, Joe, notes that the McCain military commitment goes beyond the urgency of war: 
 
 "The two McCains — John Sidney, Sr., and John Sidney, Jr. — served both in the clamor of battle and the long days of keeping the peace. They sacrificed just as the crews of this ship will sacrifice, in peace and war. For that is the lot, and the privilege of the sailor. To serve." ||||| (CNN) A US Navy plane crashed into the ocean southeast of Okinawa on Wednesday afternoon, marking at least the sixth apparent accident involving a Navy asset in East Asian waters this year. 
 
 The C2-A Greyhound transport plane was carrying 11 crew and passengers to an aircraft carrier when it crashed into the Philippine Sea , the Navy said. As of Wednesday evening, eight people had been rescued, and three were missing. 
 
 Wednesday's crash comes three weeks after a Navy and civilian panel recommended sweeping changes in a comprehensive review of the Japan-based US 7th Fleet, which covers East Asian waters. 
 
 The review found that two deadly accidents -- the collisions of the USS Fitzgerald and the USS John S. McCain with commercial ships in June and August, respectively -- were avoidable 
 
 The review's recommendations include new processes for scheduling ships; "ready for sea" assessments for all Japan-based ships; disseminating lessons learned form "near misses"; and ensuring that ships routinely transmit on their automatic identification systems to prevent collisions. 
 
 Of the six incidents, Wednesday's is the only one directly involving a Navy aircraft. The others are collisions involving US warships. 
 
 The following are the details of the six incidents: 
 
 C-2A Greyhound aircraft 
 
 The Navy says the C2-A Greyhound transport was headed from a Marine Corps base in Japan to the USS Ronald Reagan when it crashed Wednesday in the Philippine Sea, about 500 nautical miles southeast of Okinawa, Japan. 
 
 The cause of the crash wasn't immediately known, the Navy said. 
 
 Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters Wednesday that the US military told him that engine trouble might have caused (the crash)." 
 
 The aircraft belongs to a Japan-based squadron that generally flies cargo and passengers between shore bases and the Reagan. 
 
 USS Benfold 
 
 On Saturday, a Japanese tugboat lost propulsion and drifted into the USS Benfold in a bay off central Japan, causing minor damage to the guided-missile destroyer, the Navy said. 
 
 No one was injured. An investigation is underway. 
 
 The Benfold and the tugboat were participating in a scheduled towing exercise when the accident happened, the Navy said. 
 
 The Benfold was able to remain at sea; the tugboat was towed by another vessel to a Japanese port. 
 
 USS John S. McCain 
 
 The USS John S. McCain, a Navy guided-missile destroyer, collided with the oil tanker Alnic MC about 50 nautical miles east of Singapore on August 21. 
 
 The collision left 10 US sailors dead. The McCain sustained significant hull damage, with flooding in berthing compartments as well as machinery and communication rooms. 
 
 Two days after this -- which at the time was the year's fourth collision involving a US warship in East Asian waters -- the Navy relieved Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin of his duty as the US 7th Fleet's commander , citing a "loss of confidence in his ability to command." 
 
 Shortly before the collision, according to the November report , the McCain's commanding officer ordered a watch team to divide the duties of steering and the speed control of the ship after noticing one of the sailors on deck was having some difficulty at the controls. 
 
 The report says this shift created confusion among the team, and after steering control of the ship was transferred to a different control station, members of the crew failed to recognize the change in configuration. 
 
 The McCain was now in a heavily congested maritime environment and was soon on a course to collide with the Alnic MC, an approximately 30,000-ton and 600-foot-long oil and chemical tanker. 
 
 The report says the commanding officer and others on the ship's bridge "lost situational awareness" and did not register the course and speed of the approaching tanker. The McCain collided with the tanker after crossing in front of its bow. 
 
 Among the lapses highlighted by the report: The ships leadership failed to assign sufficiently experienced officers to certain duties; other senior officers failed to attend a security briefing the afternoon before the collision designed to provide awareness of the risks involved in upcoming operations; and some of the sailors were insufficiently proficient with the ship's systems. 
 
 The McCain's commanding officer and executive officer were relieved of duty after the accident. 
 
 USS Fitzgerald 
 
 The USS Fitzgerald collided with the container ship MC Crystal off the coast of Japan on June 17, resulting in the deaths of seven US sailors. 
 
 The bow of the cargo ship tore a hole in the Fitzgerald's side. The Navy provided a harrowing account of US sailors attempting to escape a rapidly flooding sleeping area. 
 
 Of the 35 sailors in the sleeping area at the time of the collision, 28 were able to escape, but the remaining seven sailors died. 
 
 November's report found that the Fitzgerald's officer of the deck realized too late that the Fitzgerald was on a collision course with the Crystal. 
 
 The Crystal also failed to take action, the Navy said, but the military still holds itself at fault for failing to avoid the collision. 
 
 "The officer of the deck, the person responsible for safe navigation of the ship, exhibited poor seamanship by failing to maneuver as required, failing to sound the danger signal and failing to attempt to contact Crystal on bridge-to-bridge radio," November's report reads. "In addition, the officer of the deck did not call the commanding officer as appropriate and prescribed by Navy procedures to allow him to exercise more senior oversight and judgment of the situation." 
 
 The report details similar failures by other crew members. 
 
 It cites failures to: plan for safety; adhere to sound navigation practice; execute basic watch-standing practices; properly use available navigation tools; and respond deliberately and effectively to an emergency. 
 
 The Fitzgerald's commanding officer, executive officer and senior noncommissioned officer were removed from their duties after the collision. 
 
 USS Champlain 
 
 In May, a South Korean fishing boat struck the USS Lake Champlain, while the Navy warship was conducting operations in international waters near the Korean Peninsula, the Navy said. No injuries were reported. 
 
 The 60- to 70-foot-long fishing vessel collided with the Lake Champlain -- a 568-foot Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser that has been with the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson strike group. 
 
 The fishing vessel crew later said it didn't have a radio and didn't hear the radio calls from the Navy, according to a Navy official. 
 
 Though these waters generally are the US 7th Fleet's responsibility, the Lake Champlain and the USS Carl Vinson strike group belong to the 3rd Fleet. 
 
 USS Antietam 
 
 In late January, the guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam ran aground while trying to anchor in Tokyo Bay. 
 
 The ship damaged its propellers and spilled hydraulic oil into the water off the coast of Japan. 
 
 The incident did not result in any injuries to US or Japanese personnel, but the discharge of up to 1,100 gallons of hydraulic oil prompted environmental concerns. ||||| Search and rescue efforts are underway after the USS John S. McCain guided-missile destroyer and an oil tanker collided near Singapore on Aug. 21. The Navy reports 10 sailors are missing and five are injured. (Amber Ferguson/The Washington Post) 
 
 After the USS Fitzgerald collided with a giant container ship in mid-June, killing seven sailors, Adm. William F. Moran, vice chief of naval operations, said that the Navy crew's lack of preparedness was partly to blame. 
 
 “Clearly at some point, the bridge team lost situational awareness,” Moran said. 
 
 Two months later, another destroyer from the same fleet has collided with an oil tanker and 10 of its crew are still missing. The USS John S. McCain (named for the Arizona senator's father and grandfather) suffered significant damage to its hull, which flooded nearby compartments, including crew berthing, machinery and communications rooms, the 7th Fleet said in a statement. On Monday, the U.S. Navy's chief ordered a “wide investigation” of the fleet. 
 
 The waters where the latest incident took place — the Singapore Strait, a 10-mile-wide maritime gantlet brimming with ships moving between the Indian Ocean and South China Sea — demand heightened precaution. If there is a systemic lack of preparedness in the fleet, then crossing through these waters, however peaceful, represent one of its biggest risks. 
 
 [Stricken U.S. destroyer arrives in Singapore after collision, 10 sailors missing] 
 
 Capt. Rahul Khanna, head of marine risk consulting at Allianz, a global insurance company, said the waters outside Singapore are particularly dense and hard to navigate, with a constant stream of ships waiting offshore to pick up loads and crisscrossing the passage after refueling. In addition to being one of the busiest shipping areas in the world, he said, it's also one of the riskiest. 
 
 “It's a very dynamic environment. These are areas where lots of ships funnel through,” said Khanna, who captained oil tankers for two years. “It requires the utmost level of situational awareness to pass through, and every sailor is aware of that.” 
 
 According to Allianz statistics, more than three-quarters of all maritime incidents are attributable to human error. Collisions usually involve a combination of factors such as malfunctioning equipment and a breakdown in communication among the ship's officers, Khanna said. 
 
 “You need to be extra careful,” Khanna said. “Your bridge team has to perform exceedingly well. They should be trained well enough to deal with this.” 
 
 
 
 An image of Monday night traffic in the Singapore Strait. (marinetraffic.com) 
 
 Other maritime risk experts said that while traveling through the Singapore Strait carries a higher risk of collision, such incidents are becoming less frequent, making the 7th Fleet's mishaps all the more remarkable. 
 
 “According to global statistics there is a reducing trend for collision at sea as a percentage of overall causes of total losses of vessels,” said Nathan Hambrook-Skinner of Lloyd's of London. He cautioned, however, that as much as it might seem like it, drawing conclusions about the reasons behind Monday's collision would be premature until a full investigation was conducted. 
 
 Peter Roberts, director of Military Sciences at the Royal United Services Institute and a former officer in the Royal Navy, agreed that it was too early to tell whether the collisions involving the McCain and the Fitzgerald were the result of similar failures or just a coincidence. 
 
 “To have two in one summer is either amazingly bad luck, or there might be other factors that contributed to it,” Roberts said. “Because these collisions are so rare and because the standards of seamanship are so high, it’s difficult to see how these two things happened so quickly after each other.” 
 
 Roberts questioned the notion that the relatively smaller and more agile Navy destroyer should have been able to rapidly change course and steer clear of the hulking oil tanker. Destroyers are fast and highly maneuverable, he said, but that only would have helped if the McCain was far enough away. 
 
 “At close range it might well be very difficult to avoid a collision,” he said. “The question is how the ships got in that close range.” 
 
 The location of the damage on the McCain seemed to indicate that the ship had tried to maneuver out of the away, Roberts said. “The fact that the ship is still running is a tribute to some quick thinking on the part of the crew,” he said. 
 
 In a statement addressing the collision between the USS John S. McCain and an oil tanker near Singapore, Navy Adm. John Richardson ordered an "operational pause" and fleet wide investigation. (U.S. Navy) 
 
 Read More: 
 
 Top officers of the USS Fitzgerald to be disciplined following deadly collision 
 
 Sailors made tough call to seal flooding ship areas; unclear if survivors inside 
 
 ‘There wasn’t a lot of time’ as water flooded U.S. destroyer below decks
– The search goes on for 10 missing US sailors after yet another accident involving a Navy ship. On Monday, Navy chief John Richardson took the rare step of ordering an "operational pause" in naval operations around the world so fleet commanders can assess what's going on, reports the Navy Times. Richardson, who pronounced himself "heartbroken" over the latest disaster, also ordered a broader investigation that goes beyond the details of the latest incidents and gets at the "root causes" of the problems. "This is the second collision in three months and is the last in a series of incidents in the Pacific theater," he said. "This trend demands more forceful action." Coverage: The collision: The USS John S. McCain, a destroyer, collided with an oil tanker off the coast of Singapore as it prepared to enter a port there. The collision happened just before dawn in one of the world's most congested shipping lanes, reports the New York Times. Things can get confusing in a hurry, especially in the dark. Protocol: There should have been plenty of crew members on deck looking for the lights of nearby ships, and, given the congestion, it wouldn't have been unusual for the ship's commander to be on the bridge, too. "Clearly at some point, the bridge team lost situational awareness," says Adm. William F. Moran, vice chief of naval operations, per the Washington Post. Out of position? The accident happened on the eastern approach to the Strait of Singapore, and AFP quotes one naval expert from Jane's who says, based on early reports, that the naval ship may not have been in the proper position, a possible sign of crew fatigue. The strait is only 10 miles wide, not leaving much room for error. It's a "dynamic environment" requiring extra vigilance, says one marine insurance official. Fourth this year: This is the fourth accident involving a US Navy ship in Asian waters this year, and CNN has details on all of them. The other big one, of course, was a June collision involving the USS Fitzgerald that left seven sailors dead. Prior to that, a South Korean fishing ship hit the USS Lake Champlain, and the US Antietam ran aground off Japan. A list at the New York Times goes back further. Not that John McCain: The ship in the latest accident isn't named for Vietnam war hero Sen. John McCain. It's named for his father and grandfather, both of them naval commanders during World War II, and the Sacramento Bee provides details on their careers.