US Carrier Back At Sea After Suez Collision Repair

U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is back at sea after repairs — with a new captain at the helm.

The Nimitz-class carrier has spent the last week at the U.S. Navy’s Forward Deployed Regional Maintenance Center (FDRMC) in Souda Bay, Greece, after colliding with a merchant vessel near the Suez Canal.

The carrier was involved in a collision with Panama-registered bulk carrier M/V Besiktas-M off the coast of Port Said off the coast of Egypt on February 12. According to reports, the starboard bow of the 188-metre tanker struck the starboard quarter of the navy vessel as the merchant vessel was exiting the canal bound for Constanta, Romania.

A statement said damage was caused to the exterior wall of two storage rooms and a maintenance space. Externally, damage assessed included a line handling space, the fantail, and the platform above one of the storage spaces.

As per a recent U.S. Navy press release, in the wake of the accident the aircraft carrier’s commanding officer Captain Dave Snowden was relieved on February 20 “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command.” He has been replaced by Captain Christopher Hill.

A statement noted: “The U.S. Navy holds commanding officers to the highest standard and takes action to hold them accountable when those standards are not met. Naval leaders are entrusted with significant responsibilities to their sailors and their ships.”

The ship set sail again on Sunday to rejoin the other elements of its Carrier Strike Group and is now conducting routine flight operations in the U.S. Sixth Fleet area of operations.

“Our ship remains operationally ready to complete deployment with mission and purpose on full display by the entire crew,” said Capt. Hill.

"FDRMC is focused on keeping our forward-deployed naval forces mission-ready across 5th and 6th Fleets, maintaining critical combat readiness for the ships and their sailors," said Capt. Mollie Bily, FDRMC commanding officer.

"The rapid repair effort on Truman was a testament to our expeditionary maintenance expertise and the exceptional collaboration with our Norfolk Naval Shipyard teammates and industry partners."

The other elements of the strike group include the flagship’s Carrier Air Wing 1, with eight embarked aviation squadrons; the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, and three Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, USS Stout, USS The Sullivans, and USS Jason Dunham.

• You can read more details on the U.S. Navy website