US submarine, tanker collide

2007-01-09 13:34

Washington - A nuclear-powered US submarine collided with a Japanese oil tanker in the Arabian Sea, with no casualties or major damage reported, US and Japanese officials said on Tuesday.

The USS Newport News and the oil tanker Mogamimaru collided late on Monday in the Straits of Hormuz "while the submarine was transiting submerged", said a US navy spokesperson in Bahrain, Lieutenant Denise Garcia.

The strait is located between Iran and Oman.

The submarine hit the Japanese ship on January 8 at about 10:15 (20:15 GMT on Sunday), Garcia told AFP.

"Overall damage to the USS Newport News is being evaluated. The propulsion plant was unaffected by this collision," Garcia said.

In Tokyo, the Japanese foreign ministry said the submarine's bow collided with the stern of the oil tanker.

"Apparently, there were no injuries on the submarine or the tanker," the ministry said in a statement, citing information from the US government.

The tanker was operated by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, or K Line, according to a spokesperson for Showa Shell Sekiyu, which contracted the vessel.

"We have learned there were no injuries and or oil leak," he told AFP.

Japanese transport minister Tetsuzo Fuyushiba also told reporters there appeared to have been no oil leakage from the tanker.

"The ship was able to navigate on its own, and apparently no one was injured," he said.

The tanker was travelling to the closest port in the United Arab Emirates, the Japanese foreign ministry said, adding that Japan had asked the United States to investigate the cause of the incident.

The Newport News, a 110m long, Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine, carries a crew of 127 officers enlisted and is based in Norfolk, Virginia, according to the Navy's website.

The submarine is part of the Eisenhower Carrier Group, the cluster of support vessels surrounding the aircraft carrier Dwight D Eisenhower. The group is currently deployed in the Gulf region.

On February 9, 2001 the nuclear-powered US submarine Greenville sank the Japanese fisheries training ship Ehime Maru during a rapid ascent off the coast of Hawaii, killing nine people on board, including four teenage students.

Commander Scott Waddle, who commanded the Grenville and was hosting civilian guests at the time of the accident, accepted responsibility for the fiasco and was reprimanded, then allowed to retire from the navy.

- AFP