US aircraft carrier collides with ship in Mediterranean Sea

By Luis Martinez

The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman collided with a large merchant vessel Wednesday night in the vicinity of Port Said, Egypt, in the Mediterranean Sea.

"The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) was involved in a collision with the merchant vessel Besiktas-M at approximately 11:46 p.m. local time, Feb. 12, while operating in the vicinity of Port Said, Egypt, in the Mediterranean Sea," a statement from the U.S Navy's Sixth Fleet said.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Cody Beam

The Exterior damage of USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) following a collision with merchant vessel Besiktas-M, Feb. 12, 2025 while operating in the vicinity of Port Said, Egypt.

A U.S. official confirmed the collision occurred while the carrier was off of Port Said awaiting to enter the Suez Canal to transit back into the Red Sea.

The collision involved a rare collision of two large vessels as the 100,000-ton aircraft carrier collided with the 53,000-ton merchant vessel Besiktas-M, a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship.

Mcc Jose Hernandez/U.S. Navy

Exterior damage of USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) is shown on Feb. 13, 2025, viewed from an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter, following a collision with the merchant vessel Besiktas-M, Feb. 12, while operating in the vicinity of Port Said, Egypt.

There are no reports of injuries, nor is there flooding, aboard the carrier, which carries a crew of 5,000 sailors, and the incident is under investigation.

Another U.S. official said the damage to the U.S. carrier is above the waterline and that it is unclear what the impact will be on the carrier's operations.

The Besiktas-M was damaged, but not significantly, and is under its own propulsion. There were no injured among the ship's crew.

The Truman is powered by two nuclear reactors and four propulsion systems, and the Sixth Fleet's statement said the ship's propulsion plants were unaffected and were said to be in "a safe and stable condition."

The aircraft carrier and its strike group had been operating in the Red Sea since mid-December as part of the mission to thwart Houthi militant attacks launched from Yemen at commercial vessels transiting the vital waterway.

The carrier had arrived at a naval base in Crete earlier in the week, a rare break for the strike group that has been in constant operations, though the pace had ebbed as Israel's ceasefire with Hamas took effect in mid-January.

The Houthis have claimed their attacks on shipping were being carried out in support of Hamas.