A u.s nuclear submarine hit an unknown
object while submerged in waters in the
asia-pacific region injuring a number of
sailors. U.S officials say it was not clear what caused the
incident on saturday. They said the submarine remained fully operational.
Unnamed officials told u.s media the
collision happened in international
waters in the south china sea and that
11 sailors had been injured. The incident happened amid rising
tensions in the region. the u.s navy said the extent of the
damage was still being assessed and that
the submarine's nuclear propulsion plant
and spaces had not been affected.
The statement did not give details about
where the incident took place or the
number of people hurts saying only that
the injuries were not life-threatening, but two officials quoted by the
associated press said two of the eleven
sailors that were hurt had injuries that
were classified as moderate. All of them were treated on board the
submarine, those officials said the incident took
place while the submarine was conducting
routine operations and that the navy did
not make the news public before thursday
in order to maintain operational
security.
According to ap the officials said the
object the USS Connecticut collided with
was not another submarine. One of the officials quoted by the
agency said it could have been a sunken
vessel or container or another uncharted
object.
Alexander Neal a singapore-based defense
and security expert told the BBC the
number of injuries caused by the
collision suggested the submarine
probably hit something big and was going
really fast. The incident he said was uncommon but
not unheard of and had exposed how busy
the area was with military activities.
The south china sea has been
increasingly saturated with naval
vessels from a number of different
countries. While there's been a lot of show of
force by surface vessels you don't see
the level of activity under the surface, Mr Neil said.
In comments reported by the chinese
state-run daily Global Times a spokesman
for the ministry of foreign affairs said
china was seriously concerned about the
incident calling on the u.s to provide
further details including the purpose of
the mission.
The submarine was later reported to be
heading towards the u.s territory of
guam. The u.s submarine USS Connecticut
suffered so much damage that it had to
sail on the surface for a week to reach Guam. Following a damage assessment on guam
the uss connecticut will return to the
u.s submarine base in Bremerton Washington for further repairs.
As reported by AFP on friday (15/11/2019), USS Connecticut commander Cameron Algiolani
and two other officials were removed
from their posts after the investigation
into the incident in the south china sea
was completed. Al-Julani was replaced by an interim
commander whose name was not disclosed.
USNI News a site specialized in the u.s
navy said the last known incident where
a submerged u.s submarine struck another
underwater object was in 2005 when the USS San Francisco hit an underwater
mountain at full speed near Guam. One sailor died in the incident.
Why is the south china sea so
contentious? The USS Connecticut was operating in one
of the most contested regions in the
world. China claims most of the south china sea
but surrounding countries and the u.s
disagree.
Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia
and Brunei have all been disputing
china's claim to almost all of the sea
for decades but tension steadily
increased in recent years. The u.s has backed many of these
countries in this territorial dispute. The incident comes just weeks after the US, UK and Australia agreed on a historic
security pact in the asia pacific in
what's seen as an effort to counter
china.
Meanwhile the u.s national security
advisor Jake Sullivan told the BBC he
was deeply concerned about actions that
undermine peace across the taiwan strait
which separates Taiwan and China. He was speaking after china sent a
record number of military jets into
taiwan's air defense zone for the fourth
day running.
