U.S. Navy Ignoring Maritime Traffic Rules in Asia: Chinese Media

The deadly incident of the US Navy destroyer which collided with an oil tanker on Monday off the coast of Singapore has received strong criticism in the Chinese media.

The latest incident occurred just two months after the USS Fitzgerald and a Philippine container ship collided in waters off Japan, killing seven US sailors.

China’s state-run Global Times says "the US Navy has behaved arrogantly in the Asia-Pacific region. It lacks respect for huge merchant ships and fails to take evasive action in time, thus resulting in serious accidents".

Another Chinese news agency China Daily said “the U.S. warships tend to sail without observing maritime traffic rules and the sloppiness of their crews”, and “an increasing hindrance to ships sailing in Asian waters”.

Early on Monday, the guided missile destroyer USS John S. McCain collided with an oil and chemical tanker in waters east of the Strait of Malacca, causing significant damage to the hull that resulted in flooding to nearby compartments. Four sailors were airlifted to hospital and 10 are missing, according to a statement released by the navy.

"The two severe collisions within two months show that the U.S. Navy's combat readiness level and military management level have both declined," said the Global Times.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy concluded the collision was the result of "poor seamanship and flaws in keeping watch" on the part of the warship, which led to its captain and two other senior officers being removed from their posts and administrative actions being taken against members of the watch teams. It also announced a fleet-wide investigation and plans temporary halts in operations to focus on safety.

The navies of the United States, Malaysia and Singapore continued their search for the 10 American service members on Tuesday.