News
Two Navy supply ships collide in Gulf of Aden, no injuries
Stars and Stripes
November 20, 2014
An SA-330J Puma helicopter transports cargo from the Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Amelia Earhart to the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in this photo from September. The Earhart collided early Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014, with the USNS Walter S. Diehl. (Joshua Card/U.S. Navy)
MANAMA, Bahrain — Two U.S. navy supply ships collided in the Gulf of Aden early Thursday, apparently suffering only minor damage, the U.S. Navy said in a release. No one was injured.
The USNS Amelia Earhart and USNS Walter S. Diehl were beginning a replenishment operation, when the collision occurred at 5:26 a.m. Both ships are continuing their assigned missions, the Navy said.
The Earhart is a dry cargo and ammunition supply ship, and the Diehl is a replenishment oiler. Both ships are tasked with resupplying U.S. Navy warships at sea that are operating in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.
The 5th Fleet encompasses about 2.5 million square miles of water around the Middle East region, including the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden and Red Sea.
The cause of the collision will be investigated.