U.S. destroyer collides with oil tanker at entrance to Gulf: Navy

A U.S. guided-missile destroyer collided on Sunday with a Japanese-owned bulk oil tanker near the entrance to the Gulf, but no one was hurt, and the ship is able to operate, the U.S. Fifth Fleet said.

“No one was hurt Sunday morning when a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer and a large Japanese-owned merchant vessel collided near the Strait of Hormuz,” the fleet said in a statement on its website.

“The collision between USS Porter (DDG 78) and the Panamanian-flagged bulk oil tanker M/V Otowasan occurred at approximately 1:00 am,” (2200 GMT Saturday) it said.

The damage to the Porter is being evaluated and the incident is under investigation, the Navy added.

The USS Porter is on a scheduled deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet, which is based in Bahrain.

The Strait of Hormuz, located at the mouth of the Gulf, is where one-fifth of the world’s oil is routed. Tensions have risen there over Iran’s threats to block tanker traffic in retaliation for tighter sanctions by the West.

Meanwhile, Oman’s coast guard official said the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane was not affected by the collision.