USS Harry S Truman Aircraft Carrier Collides With Ship Near Suez Canal

The USS Harry S Truman, a US Navy nuclear energy-powered aircraft carrier, collided with a Panamanian-flagged merchant ship called the Besiktas-M near Egypt in the Mediterranean Sea on the night of Wednesday, Feb 12, 2025.

The cause of the collision remains under investigation. The Navy reported no flooding or damage to the carrier’s nuclear systems, and no injuries were reported on either vessel. However, the merchant ship sustained some damage. The carrier only received minor damage.

Crowded waters near the Suez Canal pose challenges

The incident occurred near the Suez Canal, a vital waterway often crowded with maritime traffic. Marine expert Sal Mercogliano, a professor at Campbell University, said about 100 ships were anchored off Egypt’s Port Said when the collision occurred.

Tracking data from Marine Traffic, a ship-monitoring website, showed that the 617-foot bulk carrier Besiktas-M had just exited the Suez Canal en route to Romania.

The USS Harry S. Truman is a 1,100-foot Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. It was heading toward the canal at the time.

Damage on the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) collided with the Panamanian-flagged commercial vessel M/V BESIKTAS-M in the Mediterranean Sea pic.twitter.com/7uloJQ6YD9

— DECK TV (@decktvcom) February 14, 2025

Carl Schuster, a former U.S. Navy captain and instructor at Hawaii Pacific University, highlighted the challenges of navigating the crowded waters near the canal.

“There is not a lot of room for maneuvering in a restricted seaway and both ships require about one nautical mile to stop,” Schuster said.

He added that even minor navigation errors, misreading another vessel’s movements, or delayed decisions by the crew could quickly lead to dangerous situations with few escape options.

Truman’s recent operations in combat zones

According to the Navy, the Truman had recently completed two months of combat operations in the Central Command region before docking in Souda Bay, Greece, for a “working port visit” last week.

The carrier conducted airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen and ISIS targets in Somalia during its deployment.

The USS Harry S. Truman is one of 11 aircraft carriers in the U.S. Navy’s fleet. Collisions involving such large Navy ships and commercial vessels are rare, as carriers typically travel in a strike group, protected by destroyers.

However, experts say that ships entering the Suez Canal must move in a single-file line, which makes them more vulnerable to collisions.

Past incidents involving navy vessels

The last collision involving a U.S. aircraft carrier and a merchant ship occurred in 2004, when a dhow, a traditional Middle Eastern sailing vessel, struck the former USS John F. Kennedy in the Persian Gulf.

More recently, two U.S. Navy destroyers were involved in fatal collisions in 2017. Seven sailors died when the USS Fitzgerald struck a cargo ship off the coast of Japan in June, and 10 sailors lost their lives when the USS John S. McCain collided with a tanker near Singapore and Malaysia two months later. An investigation into the USS Harry S. Truman collision is ongoing.