U.S. aircraft carrier, merchant vessel collide near Egypt

The USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier collided with a merchant vessel late Wednesday night in the Mediterranean Sea near Egypt’s Port Said, the Navy said Thursday. No injuries were reported, according to a statement from the U.S. Navy’s Sixth Fleet. The merchant ship Besiktas M is listed on VesselFinder.com as a bulk carrier operating under the flag of Panama. The Truman is one of the military’s 10 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. Nimitz-class carriers are powered by two nuclear reactors onboard and are recognized as one of the largest warships in the world.

Are the reactors damaged? The Truman has not reported any flooding from the crash, and the nuclear-powered propulsion plants were unaffected by the crash. The crash remains under investigation, the Navy added.

Dig deeper: Read Leigh Jones’ report on two similar Navy crashes that killed 17 soldiers around 2017.