By Kanyshai Butun
ISTANBUL (AA) – A US warship and a US Navy supply vessel assigned to the military buildup in the Caribbean collided Wednesday during a ship-to-ship refueling operation, US media reported.
Two people sustained minor injuries and are in stable condition, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing Col. Emmanuel Ortiz, the US Southern Command spokesman.
He stated that both ships are able to continue sailing safely, adding that the cause of the collision is not yet clear but the incident is under investigation.
According to the military official, the collision took place in the Southern Command’s area of responsibility, which includes the Caribbean and parts of the South Atlantic and South Pacific.
Last August, the US began a naval buildup in the southern Caribbean with the stated goal of combating drug trafficking.
President Donald Trump directed the US Armed Forces to begin using military force against Latin American drug cartels, calling the smugglers narcoterrorists, a designation called into question by legal analysts and Trump’s critics.
The last reported US Navy collision took place on Feb. 12, 2025, near Port Said, Egypt, when the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman collided with a merchant vessel, resulting in no injuries.
In 2017, seventeen sailors died in two separate collisions between US Navy destroyers and merchant ships in the Pacific.
On June 17, 2017, the USS Fitzgerald destroyer collided with MV ACX Crystal, a Philippine-flagged container ship, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) off Japan, killing seven sailors.
Two months later, on Aug. 21, the Liberian-flagged tanker Alnic MC struck the destroyer USS John S. McCain in the busy Strait of Malacca near Singapore, ripping a hole in the hull and drowning another 10 sailors.