A U.S. Navy tanker ship was damaged in an incident in the Middle East, the U.S. Navy said Tuesday.
Navy officials told The Hill that the supply ship USNS Bighorn was “damaged during operations at sea” on Monday night in the 5th Fleet area of responsibility, which covers the Middle East.
“All crew members are currently safe and the situation is being assessed by the U.S. 5th Fleet,” officials said in a statement. “We will provide additional information as it becomes available.”
The Big Horn was on a refueling mission for the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group when it was damaged during the mission, according to the Associated Press.
Although the Lincoln is a nuclear-powered carrier, it works in coordination with the other three ships in the strike group, which require fuel, and the carrier's fighter jets are also refueled by tankers such as the Big Horn.
Maritime news site gCaptain Reported On Tuesday, the Big Horn became partially submerged and ran aground off the coast of Oman.
Photos and Videos Distributed online There is evidence of severe flooding, suggesting the ship may have to be towed to Dubai.
The U.S. Navy has long suffered from a shortage of tankers, and the Big Horn was reportedly the only tanker ship in the area.
The Lincoln deployed to the Middle East in early August to replace another US carrier strike group, the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The Pentagon has been moving military assets to the region due to rising tensions in Israel's war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah also escalated dramatically last week, with both sides trading retaliatory strikes and rocket attacks. Lebanon was hit by an Israeli military attack on Monday, one of the country's deadliest in its history, leaving more than 500 people dead.
The U.S. Navy has also been battling Houthi rebels in the Red Sea since January.
