Subject: RE: Oil Tanker Collides with Navy Destroyer in Strait of HormuzI've done 4 transitions of the straights of Hormuz. I was a Combat Systems type so we were on anti ship missile alert and I didn't deal with the Navigation portion, but we would switch over to the Nav radar at times just to watch the chaos.  For those that haven't been there the Navy ships are very vulnerable to attack from countries like Iran. When we went through it was always in the middle of the night with Condition Dog Zebra (Ship Darkened, set for battle) so other than radar it was virtually impossible to see our Destroyer. I'm not sure how low the radar signature is on the more modern destroyers, so there's a chance a civilian ship radar wouldn't see the destroyer as well. So, the onus to avoid the collision is pretty much on the crew of the US Navy ship. Based on where the collision damage was I'm guessing that the two ships were going head on and the Porter turned at the last minute to try and avoid the collision resulting in the impact on the starboard side towards the front. But yes, ultimately there was obviously some negligence, and unfortunately the majority of it was probably on the side of the Porter. I'm sure the captain will be relieved of his command. I'm really glad that nobody was hurt. |