'30 seconds': Deadly USS McCain collision could have been avoided just half a minute before disasterWashington Examiner, Aug 10, 2019
A damning report by the National Safety Transportation Board has detailed the agonizing three minutes before the USS John S. McCain collided with a slow-moving tanker it was overtaking off Singapore, killing 10 and injuring 48 U.S. Navy sailors onboard.
The 57-page report on the August 2017 accident concluded the watchkeepers on the bridge of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer had the opportunity to avoid disaster just 30 seconds before it hit the Alnic MC, a Liberian-flagged chemical tanker with a Filipino crew of 24.
Placing the blame squarely on the Navy's "lack of effective operational oversight" that led to insufficient training and inadequate bridge operating procedures, the report outlined how the watchkeepers believed wrongly they had lost steering control and inadvertently operated the throttles at different speeds, causing a sharp turn into the path of the Alnic MC.
If the ship had used its automatic identification system, a tracking system that uses transponders to identify a ship to other vessels, the Alnic MC would probably have seen the McCain was moving off course. The watchkeepers also failed to issue a warning via VHF radio and to hoist "not under command" lights to indicate loss of steering control.
More:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/30-seconds-deadly-uss-mccain-collision-could-have-been-avoided-just-half-a-minute-before-disaster
