DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A U.S. Navy replenishment ship operating in the Middle East was damaged in an incident that is under investigation, officials said Tuesday.
The damage to the USNS Big Horn comes after the tanker supplied the USS Abraham Lincoln’s aircraft carrier strike group and remains in the region amid heightened tensions over the Israel-Hamas war and Israel’s ongoing attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
A US Navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters not yet made public, said the damage occurred in the Middle East, but declined to elaborate on its location. A photo released by the US military dated September 5 showed sailors aboard the Lincoln receiving supplies from the Big Horn, while another on September 11 showed the Big Horn alongside the Lincoln. The Lincoln patrols the Arabian Sea.
The official said the Big Horn’s crew was safe and there were no signs of an oil leak from the vessel.
Another US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason, said the vessel was being supported by private tugs and that an assessment was still ongoing for the vessel.
Rumors about the Big Horn’s condition began circulating early Tuesday after images posted on a shipping-tracking website called gCaptain showed flooding aboard the Henry J. Kaiser-class oil tanker. The website described the Big Horn as having “run aground … and partially flooded off the coast of Oman.”
Although Lincoln is powered by a nuclear reactor, its strike group has ships powered by fossil fuels that must be resupplied at sea. The airplane aboard the Lincoln also needs jet fuel. The Big Horn and other similar vessels also provide other supplies.
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Copp reported from Washington.