An unknown object has hit a nuclear submarine in the US while submerged in the water of the Asia-Pacific region. It has injured several sailors. It was not at all clear what had caused this incident on Saturday. The submarine remained fully operational.
The collision happened in the International waters in the south of the China Sea. It has injured 11 sailors. However, this incident has happened amidst the rising tensions in the region. The nuclear propulsion of a plant and the spaces is not facing any significant effect.
The statement is not giving many details about where the incident took place or the number of people injured. He only said that the injuries were not life-threatening.
But two of the officials have said that two of the 11 sailors have been hurt. They had moderate injuries. All of them got the treatment onboard the submarine.
Those officials said that the incident took place while the submarine was performing routine operations. The Navy did not make the news public before Thursday to maintain operational security.
The object the USS Connecticut collided with was not any other submarine. It was a sunken vessel or container or any other uncharted object.
Alexander Neill, a defence security expert, said that the number of injuries shows that the object was really big and going quite fast. The incident was uncommon but not unheard of. It has exposed how busy the area was with other military activities.
“The South China Sea has been increasingly saturated with naval vessels from several 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. Neill said.
The nuclear submarine was heading towards US territory to Guam. The last known incident similar to this took place in 2005. At that time, the USS San Francisco also hit an underwater mountain at a higher speed near Guam. one soldier died in that incident.
Credits: BBC
