US Destroyer Collides With Tanker in Gulf

The US Navy says one of its guided-missile destroyers collided with an oil tanker early today but that no one was injured in the accident. The collision involving the USS Porter and the Panamanian-flagged bulk oil tanker M/V Otowasan occurred at approximately 1am local time, the US Navy said in a statement. The damage to the Porter is being evaluated and the incident is under investigation, the Navy added.

The USS Porter is on a scheduled deployment to the US 5th Fleet, which is based in Bahrain. The Strait of Hormuz, located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, is where one-fifth of the world's oil is routed. Tensions have risen there over Iran's threats to block tanker traffic in retaliation for tighter sanctions by the West. (More Strait of Hormuz stories.)