US nuclear sub collides with VLCC in Arabian Sea

Jan 10, 2007
Author: P&S

The US Navy nuclear-powered submarine Newport News collided with the Japanese K Line VLCC Mogamigawa in the Arabian Sea yesterday (9 January 2007).

The collision took place south of the Strait of Hormuz. Only slight damage to the tankers ballast tank was reported and there were no oil leaks.

It was not known what damage occurred to the American submarine or how the accident came about. The 299,999-dwt Mogamigawa was proceeding partly loaded from Saudi Arabia for Singapore and has a crew of 24. The ship was since safely gone to anchorage in the UAE.

USN Newport News (SSN750) is a Los Angeles class multirole attack submarine built in 1989. She displaces 7,100 tons submerged and is 109m long with a beam of 9.7m. Her propulsion comes from a S6G reactor feeding steam turbines and driving a single shaft while producing 35,000shp to give a speed of around 30 knots. Newport News carries a crew of 141.

The sub’s armaments consist of four 21-inch torpedo tubes capable of launching both torpedoes and Tomahawk missiles, plus a further 12 vertically launched Tomahawks.

K Line’s VLCC Mogamigawa is unarmed but its cargo is highly volatile.