Newly released imagery provides a clearer view of the damage sustained by the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) after its collision with the merchant vessel Besiktas-M in the eastern Mediterranean.

According to U.S. Navy officials, the incident took place at around 11:46 p.m. local time on February 12, near Port Said, Egypt — a heavily trafficked area adjacent to the entrance of the Suez Canal.

Though the newly available photos show dents and scrapes along the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier’s hull, Navy spokesperson Commander Tim Gorman reported that “the propulsion plants are unaffected and in a safe and stable condition.” He confirmed there were no injuries or flooding onboard following the collision and emphasised that the ship remains fully operational.

Port Said sits at the northern end of the Suez Canal, making it one of the world’s most significant transit points for both merchant and naval vessels. With high traffic volume and tight navigation channels, even a momentary lapse in situational awareness can increase the risk of collision. In this instance, investigators are examining how a vessel as large as a Nimitz-class carrier — which measures over 300 metres in length — came into contact with a commercial ship.

While the USS Harry S. Truman’s size offers substantial protection from external impacts, the situation also highlights the importance of coordination and vigilance, especially in strategic chokepoints like the Suez Canal.

The U.S. Navy has launched a formal inquiry into the circumstances behind the incident, a process that typically involves reviewing radar logs, bridge recordings, lookout reports, and communication transcripts. “More information will be released as it becomes available,” Commander Gorman stated.

Though no official timeline for completion has been provided, investigations of this nature commonly aim to determine fault, assess procedural shortcomings, and recommend potential policy changes to prevent future incidents.


At the UK Defence Journal, we aim to deliver accurate and timely news on defence matters. We rely on the support of readers like you to maintain our independence and high-quality journalism. Please consider making a one-off donation to help us continue our work. Click here to donate. Thank you for your support!

George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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Jonathan
Jonathan
13 days ago

Bit of t-cut it will be as good as new.

Andy reeves
Andy reeves
13 days ago
Reply to  Jonathan

get another captain to be replaced

Spyinthesky
Spyinthesky
12 days ago
Reply to  Andy reeves

Beat me to it. The new US Govt has certainly not had a good record on accidents presently, what is it 6 in the air and now this. Must be all those blind pilots and Sea Captains they inherited from Biden I guess.

Quill
Quill
10 days ago
Reply to  Spyinthesky

Haha, funny comment. I wonder if they current administration lay off the nuclear powerplant engineers like they did for their powerplants on the mainland. They don’t need any such engineers taking all that money.

Willraven
Willraven
7 days ago
Reply to  Quill

Oh look a libturd talking nonsense…

Cry more libby…

PaulW
PaulW
13 days ago

How was a civilian ship allowed to get so close to a US aircraft carrier? I always considered them as no-go areas. So all traffic gets stopped to let them pass. What if the civilian ship had been a floating bomb. Seems like a serious security failure.

Freddie
Freddie
13 days ago
Reply to  PaulW

Why not take a look at where it happened ? Apparently it was in the Vicinity of Port Said, It’s rather a busy old place for shipping entering and exiting Suez.

Patrick C
Patrick C
13 days ago
Reply to  PaulW

it happened in the middle of a traffic jam of ships waiting to enter the suez canal. there are dozens/hundreds of cargo ships in that immediate area waiting for their turn while other ships navigate through. its really not uncommon for them to swap paint sometimes. the last time i can see it happening to a carrier was in 2004 in the persian gulf.

Gary Warburton
Gary Warburton
12 days ago
Reply to  PaulW

The carrier had its transponder turned off whilst transiting through the exit channel of the Suez Canal, Don’t think you can blame the merchant ship for this one!

Spyinthesky
Spyinthesky
12 days ago
Reply to  PaulW

Have to say that before Britain worked out that a nuclear bomb was somewhat smaller, more feasible and devastating than had previously been thought ie merchant ship size to blow up a port, that such a thing was thus totally impractical and fundamentally pointless, a thought generally and understandably shared back then. Seems we might need to re think such a thing, certainly where the yank carriers are concerned. No doubt Iran will rubbing its chin.

DB
DB
13 days ago

Expect a loss of confidence and a change in command, soon.

On USNI YouTube, interesting video on celestial navigation of an Assault Ship to Guam!
.. perhaps, the bridge team need to go back to school.

Spyinthesky
Spyinthesky
12 days ago
Reply to  DB

If only they had done a bit of ‘left hand down a bit’ eh. There’s one for youngsters.

Aurelius
Aurelius
13 days ago

DEI/ESG strikes again.
War stuff is for warriors.
Everything else is for everyone else.
🫶✌️

Robert Blay
Robert Blay
13 days ago
Reply to  Aurelius

Care to back that up with any hard facts? That will be a big fat no then.

Aurelius
Aurelius
12 days ago
Reply to  Robert Blay

An Educated guess 😁

Spyinthesky
Spyinthesky
12 days ago
Reply to  Aurelius

Or as the orange one would say merely ‘common sense’ eh. Bit like drinking bleach or shining lethal doses of ultra-violet light to kill covid. Looking with a semblance of equal common sense, at the time line I guess the Captain, First Officer and helmsman would have been promoted or recruited from a homeless hostel during Biden’s presidency and progressed up the ranks by a blind committee of LGBT Admirals to make your comment make sense commonly or otherwise. I expect Trump is having his usual unsurprisingly young and attractive spokeswoman to work up a statement to such effect as… Read more »

Aurelius
Aurelius
11 days ago
Reply to  Spyinthesky

Make sure you get your booster kid. 🏴‍☠️🏳️‍🌈

Ed
Ed
13 days ago
Reply to  Aurelius

This isn’t the place to talk nonsense.

Steve R
Steve R
13 days ago
Reply to  Aurelius

My God, don’t you talk a lot of rubbish!

Aurelius
Aurelius
12 days ago
Reply to  Steve R

Stop with the compliments Tommy Aitkins. 😎

Wes
Wes
13 days ago
Reply to  Aurelius

Evidence please, or are you just another keyboard troll?

Aurelius
Aurelius
12 days ago
Reply to  Wes

Hiya Wes, I know opinions lay between knowledge and ignorance, I think mine are more closer to the former, but I don’t really care. ❤️☮️

Spyinthesky
Spyinthesky
12 days ago
Reply to  Aurelius

After that one where truth has no meaning to you I reckon you are indeed Donny and I claim my Doge bitcoin either way equally worthless in having any value. 🇺🇸🚀🤪

Aurelius
Aurelius
11 days ago
Reply to  Spyinthesky

My reply is at the bottom of the page sits, sorry mate I’m so clever I can’t work this bleedin’ system 🤷😀
Before I go though I will say…
Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men and weak men create hard times.
🫶✌️

Bright
Bright
12 days ago
Reply to  Aurelius

The problem is, everyone thinks that about their own opinions.

Aurelius
Aurelius
11 days ago
Reply to  Bright

Especially on this site kid 😎
Blessed are the peacemakers
♾️❤️☮️

Airborne
Airborne
12 days ago
Reply to  Aurelius

You do care hence why you post and reply……with your gritted teeth and in increased heart rate…..

Aurelius
Aurelius
11 days ago
Reply to  Airborne

Hiya Airborne,
Maybe sometimes I care, but not today, peace has broken out in Europe don’t ya know, inspite of the warmongering European political imbeciles.
Blessed are the peacemakers. ♾️❤️☮️

DH
DH
13 days ago
Reply to  Aurelius

Are you really named after a tit. 😕🕳️Btth.

Aurelius
Aurelius
12 days ago
Reply to  DH

Maybe ! But I bet some bird 🏳️‍🌈 was involved in this Catastrophic sailing. 😁

TR
TR
13 days ago

Wonder if it was deliberate- drag some cables, ram a carrier…

Patrick C
Patrick C
12 days ago
Reply to  TR

exactly what i was thinking. russia/china could take a carrier out of commission for a while by ‘accidentally’ ramming a giant cargo ship into it around one of these chokepoints. “we lost steering” — would the US/UK consider it an act of war AND actually retaliate because of it? i wonder if its even worth the QE using these canals- how much extra time is going the long way around africa?

Spyinthesky
Spyinthesky
12 days ago
Reply to  Patrick C

Donny would ring Putin and offer to pay the cost of damage to the Merchant ship… as long as he keeps those photos in the safe. 🤐

Zephyr
Zephyr
13 days ago

Where is Besiktas-M regsitered?

Spyinthesky
Spyinthesky
12 days ago
Reply to  Zephyr

Don’t know but you could always ask Tulsi Gabbard after all she has super close links to Moscow.

ChariotRider
ChariotRider
12 days ago
Reply to  Zephyr

Panama.

According USNI the Besiktas-M is a 53,000tons deadweight 550ft (188m) in length bulk carrier so not huge but definitely a tad bigger than a rowing boat. 🙂

Ownership: “It’s unclear who owns and manages the ship.” Hmm, pause for thought if Russia has anything to do with this ship things might get very interesting indeed… The US is very sensitive about its super carriers.

Cheers CR

ChariotRider
ChariotRider
12 days ago
Reply to  Zephyr

There is also an AIS track for the Besiktas-M on the USNI article. The leaves the port and the proceeds on a northerly course until she makes a hard left turn. Probably having just hit the carrier, or being hit by the carrier? No picture of the damage to Besiktas-M so can’t say much about it. According to ClassNK website(?) the Besiktas-M: Registered Owner 1 : BLACK HAWK SHIPPING LTD. Management Company 1 : SYNERGY SHIP MANAGEMENT TURKIYE PTE. LTD. According to TradeWinds website: The Besiktas-M is listed as owned and commercially managed by Black Hawk Shipping, a Marshall Islands… Read more »

DH
DH
13 days ago

Who insures the Yankee vessels? 🙄🕳️Btth.

Spyinthesky
Spyinthesky
12 days ago
Reply to  DH

Musk probably, no doubt cheaper than insuring Cybertrucks from self driving visits to lamp posts.Always said they were dogs. 💨

Red Scorpion
Red Scorpion
11 days ago

At least the US Navy has seaworthy ships. Unlike the Royal Navy which has to stay in port lest they risk sinking due to rust holes in the hull

Aurelius
Aurelius
11 days ago

Hiya sits
with all the propaganda and public enlightenment about the truth is apparently what your feelings tell you it is.
I don’t know what a donny doge coin is, but lately a lot of worthless opinions are floating around, the European politcal warmongers for example where the truth means nada.
Blessed are the peacemakers. ♾️❤️☮️