At least two US Navy sailors suffered injuries on Wednesday (local time) after one of its warships collided with a naval supply ship in the Caribbean Sea, military officials said.
According to US Southern Command (Southcom) spokesperson Colonel Emmanuel Ortiz, the USS Truxtun, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, and the USNS Supply, a Supply-class fast-combat support ship, collided while engaging in ship-to-ship transfer, a Wall Street Journal report said.
U.S. Southern Command said that two sailors suffered minor injuries on Wednesday after the USS Truxtun (DDG‑103) and the USNS Supply (T‑AOE‑6) bumped into each other during a fuel transfer in the Caribbean. Both ships were able to keep sailing safely, according to SOUTHCOM. the… https://t.co/wk63DITkfU pic.twitter.com/OQFaswX98k
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) February 12, 2026
Ortiz added that the two sailors had sustained minor injuries, and were stable. Both vessels have also reported that they were still capable of continuing to sail safely.
A probe has already been initiated into the collision, as its cause has not yet been revealed.
How it happened
The report stated that the warship had left its home port in Norfolk, Virginia, on February 6, to begin its scheduled deployment.
This comes after US President Donald Trump ordered a major naval buildup in the Caribbean in recent months as a part of his campaign against drug trafficking in the region.
@USNavy destroyer USS Truxtun left its homeport Tuesday exact destination is unknown, the departure from Naval Station #Norfolk, Virginia, comes as the U.S. Navy ramps up its presence in the Middle East amid rising tensions between the U.S. and #Iran. SHe has lots of options:… pic.twitter.com/4FG9kwWW5W
— OakLeafDefense (@OakLeafDefense) February 5, 2026
The USS Truxtun is one of 12 warships in the US Southcom, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group.
Underway replenishments—also called ship-to-ship transfers—involve transferring supplies and/or fuel between two ships that sail parallel to each other.
Notably, though Supply-class ships are owned by the Navy, they are typically operated by civilian mariners.
While the exact location of the collision has not yet been specified, a military official said in the report that it had taken place somewhere in the Southcom area of responsibility, which includes the Caribbean and parts of the South Atlantic and South Pacific.
While collisions involving naval warships are relatively rare, they can still be deadly. In fact, as many as 17 sailors died in two separate collisions between destroyers and merchant ships in the Pacific Ocean in 2017. Both accidents were later attributed to crew failures.
Almost a decade later, the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman collided with a merchant vessel on February 12, 2025, near Egypt. No injuries were reported then.
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