A deployed US Navy fuel ship suffered damage after apparently running into something in the Middle East
A US Navy fuel ship suffered some damage in the Middle East on Monday.
The replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn appeared to be involved in an allision, a Navy official said.
The Big Horn is a refueling asset supporting operations in the Middle East.
A US Navy fuel ship deployed to the Middle East suffered damage on Monday after apparently running into something.
A Navy official told Business Insider on Tuesday that the replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn appeared to have been involved in an “allision” in the Arabian Sea.
An allision is a term for when a moving ship strikes a stationary object. The official didn’t say what the Big Horn hit, only that it took damage. No crew members were said to have been injured in the incident.
The Navy official said that the extent of the damage was still being assessed and that an investigation was ongoing. The Big Horn was anchored off the coast of Oman earlier on Tuesday, but commercial tugboats are bringing the vessel to a nearby port.
USNS Big Horn during a replenishment-at-sea with the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in September.US Navy photo
The news that Big Horn was involved in an incident was first reported on Tuesday by gCaptain, a maritime news outlet. The outlet said it received reports that the oiler ran aground and cited leaked video and photos purporting to show damage to the vessel and flooding inside.
The official said the Navy had received reports that an allision occurred and that the Big Horn didn’t run aground.
The Big Horn is a Henry J. Kaiser-class replenishment oiler that can provide fuel to other warships while at sea. Multiple Navy assets, including the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, are deployed to the Middle East region.
The Big Horn refueled the carrier Abraham Lincoln just two weeks ago.
It’s unclear how the Big Horn incident could impact the strike group’s operations, as it’s a key support asset for Fifth Fleet operations. There do not appear to be any other replenishment vessels in the Middle East region, but Navy warships have other means of refueling, such as port visits.
Monday’s incident isn’t the first time the oiler has been damaged in the Middle East in recent months. The vessel suffered damage during an ill-fated July refueling incident with destroyer USS John S. McCain.
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