Navy to issue order for heavy lift of the USS John S. McCain

Sept. 6 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy is planning on issuing an order on an existing contract for the salvage, repair and transport of the USS John S. McCain to Yokosuka, Japan, using a heavy lift.

The ship will be transported from Singapore to the U.S. Navy's Ship Repair Facility-Japan Regional Maintenance Facility, with a tentative timeframe of late September.

Yokosuka is where the USS John S. McCain is forward deployed. Once there, a complete damage assessment will be performed to determine when and where full repairs will be completed to the vessel.

The Arleigh Burke-class McCain was involved in a collision east of the Straits of Malacca with the civilian cargo ship Alnic MC Aug. 21. The collision killed ten sailors.

It was the second collision in less than three months, after the USS Fitzgerald crashed into a merchant ship off the coast of Japan, killing seven U.S. sailors. Those incidents have called into serious question the readiness and training of the U.S. surface fleet. The 7th Fleet's commanding admiral and several other officers were relieved from duty for dereliction of duty.

Congress plans to hold hearings on the collisions and two other incidents this year, all involving ships from the Navy's 7th Fleet, with the first occurring Sep. 7.