US Navy crash: 10 sailors missing after destroyer USS John McCain collides with oil tanker off Singapore

Accident comes after USS Fitzgerald involved in fatal collision

Crash comes weeks after USS Fitzgerald in deadly collision (Reuters)

Ten sailors are missing after an American warship collided with an oil tanker east of Singapore in the second accident involving US Navy destroyers in little more than two months.

The guided-missile destroyer USS John S McCain collided with the merchant vessel Alnic MC while heading to Singapore for a routine port call, the Navy said in a statement.

“Initial reports indicate John S McCain sustained damage to her port side aft,” the Navy said. “There are currently 10 sailors missing and five injured.”

A search-and-rescue mission was under way involving Singaporean ships, helicopters and tug boats, as well as US Navy aircraft.

“Thoughts & prayers are w/ our @USNavy sailors aboard the #USSJohnSMcCain where search & rescue efforts are underway,” Donald Trump tweeted as operations continued.

The warship was sailing under its own power and heading to port, the Navy said.

The Alnic MC is a Liberian-flagged, 183 metre-long oil or chemical tanker of 50,760 deadweight tonnes, according to shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon.

Seven sailors were killed in the incident (AP)

Shipping data showed it last sent a transponder signal at 2258 GMT Sunday and has since come to a halt 6-12 miles off the east coast of the Pengerang peninsula in Johor, southern Malaysia. The ship data showed it was “ballasting”, meaning that it was not loaded full of oil for cargo.

The waterways around Singapore are some of the busiest and most important in the world, carrying around a quarter of the world's trade in goods and oil.

The US Navy said last week it had removed the two senior officers and the senior enlisted sailor on a warship that almost sank off the coast of Japan in June after it was struck by a Philippine container ship.

That collision killed seven US sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer the USS Fitzgerald.

The USS Fitzgerald and USS John S McCain are both ballistic missile defence (BMD) capable ships and part of the same Japan-based destroyer squadron. The Seventh Fleet has six ships assigned to BMD patrols, with half of those out on patrol at any one time.

Asked whether the US Navy would need to bring forward other ships to maintain its strength, a spokesman for the Seventh Fleet said it was “way too early to know”.

North Korea threatened last week to fire ballistic missiles towards the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, ratcheting up tensions with Mr Trump, who had threatened to unleash “fire and fury” on Pyongyang if it threatened the United States.

The vessel involved in the latest collision is named for the father and grandfather of US Republican Senator John McCain, who were both admirals in the United States Navy.

“Cindy & I are keeping America's sailors aboard the USS John S McCain in our prayers tonight - appreciate the work of search & rescue crews,” Mr McCain said on Twitter.

Senator McCain is a Vietnam War-era naval aviator who was shot down and held prisoner for five-and-a-half years. He is now undergoing treatment for brain cancer.

Reuters