A U.S. Navy cargo ship ran aground on Saturday in Bahrain shortly after leaving a shipyard in Al Hidd.
According to 5th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, the USNS Alan Shepard became stuck after striking ground, Stars and Stripes reported.
The 210-meter-long vessel had roughly 85 people onboard at the time of the incident. No injuries were reported, Hawkins added.
The USNS Alan Shepard is a Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo and ammunition ship, according to the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command. The vessel “participates in a vertical replenishment while on a deployment of the Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).”
Multiple tugboats were able to pull the Navy ship free during high tide on Sunday. While no damage was immediately detected, the Navy is investigating the incident and assessing the ship’s condition.
Last year, two Navy ships seemed like they were about to collide in San Diego Bay before both sharply turned away in what almost looked like a game of “chicken” with warships, triggering a Navy investigation.
A video posted on Twitter showed the two-minute encounter between the guided-missile destroyer USS Momsen and the dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry.
Navy personnel on both ships can be heard saying they’re going to turn to port, or left, to avoid a collision. Within two minutes, both ships turn left out of each other’s way. Groups of sailors can be seen standing outside on each ship.
A spokesman for the U.S. Third Fleet, Lt. Samuel Boyle, told Navy Times that while the ships were “in close vicinity,” they each successfully navigated out of the situation. He added that there were no injuries or damage.
This was a breaking news story. The details were periodically updated as more information became available.
