“This trend demands more forceful action,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said. 
 
 Declaring that ”this trend needs more forceful action,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson called Monday morning for a global fleet-wide operational pause in order to understand the causes of the service’s spate of fatal at-sea collisions this year. 
 
 “I want our fleet commanders to get together with their leaders and their commands to ensure we’re taking all appropriate and immediate actions to ensure safe and effective operations around the world,” Richardson said in a video released Monday morning. 
 
 
 
 US Navy destroyer USS John McCain collides with Liberian-flagged tanker Alnic MC in the Strait of Malacca Aug, 21. Two months prior, destroyer Fitzgerald (DDG-62) collided with Philippine-flagged container ship ACX Crystal off the coast of Japan. 
 
 The review will assess ”the contributing factors, the root causes of these incidents,” he said. 
 
 
 
 His announcement came after the destroyer John S. McCain collided with an oil tanker near Singapore at 5:24 a.m. local time Monday in a high-traffic area of the South China Sea. 
 
 Ten sailors remained missing as of 11 a.m. East Coast time and five sailors sustained non-life threatening injuries, according to 7th Fleet. 
 
 It was the second such at-sea disaster for the Navy’s 7th Fleet this summer. A merchant vessel struck the destroyer Fitzgerald on June 17, opening a massive gash in its side that flooded living quarters and led to the drowning deaths of seven sailors. 
 
 CNO statement on recent incidents in the Pacific "Our primary concern at this point is the safety of the crew and ship - that is the focus of our efforts at the scene. We will continue to provide updates as events unfold and we learn more. I am also directing a comprehensive review into all potential factors contributing to these incidents." 
 
 The McCain collision was the fourth significant safety incident of 2017 involving a U.S. 7th Fleet ship. 
 
 In January, the cruiser Antietam ran aground in Tokyo Bay. 
 
 In May, the cruiser Lake Champlain collided with a Korean fishing boat in the Sea of Japan. 
 
 The review will look at operational tempo, performance, maintenance, equipment and personnel assessments, he said. 
 
 The review will also focus on tactical and navigational proficiency in surface warfare training and career development. 
 
 A diverse investigative team will spearhead the effort. Its ranks will include commissioned and enlisted sailors, the Navy’s Inspector General and outside experts, according to the CNO’s office. 
 
 “I want this team to be as diverse as they can be so that we don‘t miss anything in our review,” Richardson said. 
 
 
 
 The review will be ”on a very tight timeline,” he said. ”We need to get to it and take corrective action.” 
 
 ‘Water on deck!‘ ‘Get out!‘ — The Navy's official report of the Fitzgerald's catastrophe at sea Sailors had less than a minute to escape as seawater blasted through a massive hole in the destroyer Fitzgerald after a container ship struck its starboard side on June 19. 
 
 The Alnic MC, a Liberian-flagged oil tanker, struck the rear port side of the McCain at about 5:24 a.m. local time Monday. 
 
 Search and rescue efforts continued as of Monday evening in Singapore, and involved U.S. and Singaporean assets, according to the 7th Fleet’s latest statement on the disaster. 
 
 “Significant damage to the hull resulted in flooding to nearby compartments, including crew berthing, machinery, and communications rooms,” 7th Fleet said. ”Damage control efforts by the crew halted further flooding.” 
 
 
 
 USS John S. McCain collides with merchant ship What is known following the collision between the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) and the merchant vessel Alnic MC. 
 
 The ship made its way under its own power to Singapore, as did the amphibious assault ship America, which is providing a place for McCain sailors to eat and sleep. 
 
 Like with the Fitzgerald, questions of how a commercial ship could get so close to some of the most advanced destroyers in the world remain at the forefront. 
 
 “I don’t want to speculate how the incident happened, but this area — it’s a busy area, considering the two vessels are about to enter the traffic separation scheme,” said Adm. Datuk Zulkifili Abu Bakarthe, head of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, in a Monday press conference. 
 
 Rumor control with OS2 Larter Defense News' David Larter takes on some of the rumors surrounding the collision involving the USS John S. McCain. 
 
 The Navy last week released a report detailing the valor and chaos that took place after the Fitz was struck, but has yet to explain how the commercial ACX Crystal got that close in the first place. 
 
 About 80,000 vessels transit the strait annually through the strait, he said. 
 
 The ship suffered heavy flooding in two crew berthings and in a space known as ”shaft alley,” through which runs the shafts that connect to the engines to turn the ship’s propellers, according to an early internal report reviewed by Navy Times. 
 
 Unlike the collision between the destroyer Fitzgerald and the ACX Crystal off Japan in June, much of the crew would be up and preparing to eat breakfast and turn over watch stations at that time. 
 
 The Alnic MC is a 600-foot oil and chemical tanker with a gross tonnage of 30,000, according to a Navy release. The tanker is about three times the size of the McCain. 
 
 Images circulating on social media show a large hole in McCain that extends below the waterline below the ship’s aft missile deck. The ship’s propulsion was limited as it made its way to Singapore. 
 
 Incidents such as those with the McCain and Fitzgerald incidents are troubling, said Jan van Tol, a retired commander of three war ships who now serves as an analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. ||||| A top U.S. Navy admiral on Monday called for a swift and thorough investigation into Monday's collision of the USS John S. McCain into an oil tanker near Singapore-- marking the second deadly mishap that occurred in the Pacific in the past three months. 
 
 Adm. John Richardson ordered an operational pause in all the fleets around the world while the Navy works to determine the factors behind the collision. Richardson tweeted that the Navy will conduct a wide investigation, including a review into the possibility of "cyber intrusion or sabotage." 
 
 Adm. Phil Davidson, the head of the Navy's Fleet Forces, will lead the investigation. 
 
 Richardson made clear that there is no evidence of a hacking at this point, but some cyber experts have raised to possiblity given the location of the warships. 
 
 Jeff Stutzman, an ex-information warfare specialist in the Navy who works at a cyber threat intelligence company, told McClatchy that “there’s something more than just human error going on." 
 
 "When you are going through the Strait of Malacca, you can't tell me that a Navy destroyer doesn't have a full navigation team going with full lookouts on every wing and extra people on radar," he said. 
 
 Richardson called for a review of the 7th Fleet’s maintenance, personnel and equipment in the region. He called on a new focus on surface warfare training, which includes tactical and navigational proficiency. 
 
 The USS John S. McCain suffered “significant damage” to its hull after a collision with an oil tanker on Monday near Singapore. 
 
 The 7th Fleet said in a statement that damage to the guided missile destroyer's hull flooded nearby compartments including crew berths, machinery and communications rooms. 
 
 Ten sailors are missing and four were hospitalized in Singapore with injuries after being evacuated by helicopter. A multinational search and rescue effort involving Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the U.S. is underway. 
 
 On June 17, the USS Fitzgerald was badly damaged in the collision off the coast of Japan. The waters off Japan are considered congested and considered to be challenging to navigate. 
 
 The seas were relatively calm, and visibility was unrestricted. The bow of the container ship, the Philippine-flagged ACX Crystal, slammed into the Fitzgerald's right side above the waterline, quickly flooding several areas inside the ship, including a berthing, or sleeping, area. 
 
 Seven sailors drowned. 
 
 The New York Times reported that there were radar officers working on the bridge and combat information center below and “should have spotted the freighter’s image on their screens.” One sailor wrote the paper: “All I can say is, somebody wasn’t paying attention.” 
 
 The top three leaders aboard the USS Fitzgerald were removed from duty. 
 
 Aside from the USS McCain and USS Fitgerald incidents, the Navy cruiser USS Antietam ran aground dumping more than 1,000 gallons of oil in Tokyo Bay in February. In May, another cruiser, USS Lake Champlain, hit a South Korean fishing vessel. 
 
 Itay Glick, the founder of a cyber security firm called Votiro, told News.com.au that his initial reaction to news of the USS McCain collision was that it may have been hacked. Glick worked in the cyber-warfare unit of the Israeli intelligence agency and pointed to the possibility of involvement from Russia and China. 
 
 “I don’t believe in coincidence,” Glick said. “Both USS McCain and USS Fitzgerald were part of the 7th Fleet, there is a relationship between these two events and there may be a connection.” 
 
 The Associated Press contributed to this report 
 
 Edmund DeMarche is a news editor for FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @EDeMarche. ||||| Search and rescue efforts are underway after the USS John S. McCain guided-missile destroyer and an oil tanker collided near Singapore on Aug. 21. The Navy reports 10 sailors are missing and five are injured. (Amber Ferguson/The Washington Post) 
 
 After the USS Fitzgerald collided with a giant container ship in mid-June, killing seven sailors, Adm. William F. Moran, vice chief of naval operations, said that the Navy crew's lack of preparedness was partly to blame. 
 
 “Clearly at some point, the bridge team lost situational awareness,” Moran said. 
 
 Two months later, another destroyer from the same fleet has collided with an oil tanker and 10 of its crew are still missing. The USS John S. McCain (named for the Arizona senator's father and grandfather) suffered significant damage to its hull, which flooded nearby compartments, including crew berthing, machinery and communications rooms, the 7th Fleet said in a statement. On Monday, the U.S. Navy's chief ordered a “wide investigation” of the fleet. 
 
 The waters where the latest incident took place — the Singapore Strait, a 10-mile-wide maritime gantlet brimming with ships moving between the Indian Ocean and South China Sea — demand heightened precaution. If there is a systemic lack of preparedness in the fleet, then crossing through these waters, however peaceful, represent one of its biggest risks. 
 
 [Stricken U.S. destroyer arrives in Singapore after collision, 10 sailors missing] 
 
 Capt. Rahul Khanna, head of marine risk consulting at Allianz, a global insurance company, said the waters outside Singapore are particularly dense and hard to navigate, with a constant stream of ships waiting offshore to pick up loads and crisscrossing the passage after refueling. In addition to being one of the busiest shipping areas in the world, he said, it's also one of the riskiest. 
 
 “It's a very dynamic environment. These are areas where lots of ships funnel through,” said Khanna, who captained oil tankers for two years. “It requires the utmost level of situational awareness to pass through, and every sailor is aware of that.” 
 
 According to Allianz statistics, more than three-quarters of all maritime incidents are attributable to human error. Collisions usually involve a combination of factors such as malfunctioning equipment and a breakdown in communication among the ship's officers, Khanna said. 
 
 “You need to be extra careful,” Khanna said. “Your bridge team has to perform exceedingly well. They should be trained well enough to deal with this.” 
 
 
 
 An image of Monday night traffic in the Singapore Strait. (marinetraffic.com) 
 
 Other maritime risk experts said that while traveling through the Singapore Strait carries a higher risk of collision, such incidents are becoming less frequent, making the 7th Fleet's mishaps all the more remarkable. 
 
 “According to global statistics there is a reducing trend for collision at sea as a percentage of overall causes of total losses of vessels,” said Nathan Hambrook-Skinner of Lloyd's of London. He cautioned, however, that as much as it might seem like it, drawing conclusions about the reasons behind Monday's collision would be premature until a full investigation was conducted. 
 
 Peter Roberts, director of Military Sciences at the Royal United Services Institute and a former officer in the Royal Navy, agreed that it was too early to tell whether the collisions involving the McCain and the Fitzgerald were the result of similar failures or just a coincidence. 
 
 “To have two in one summer is either amazingly bad luck, or there might be other factors that contributed to it,” Roberts said. “Because these collisions are so rare and because the standards of seamanship are so high, it’s difficult to see how these two things happened so quickly after each other.” 
 
 Roberts questioned the notion that the relatively smaller and more agile Navy destroyer should have been able to rapidly change course and steer clear of the hulking oil tanker. Destroyers are fast and highly maneuverable, he said, but that only would have helped if the McCain was far enough away. 
 
 “At close range it might well be very difficult to avoid a collision,” he said. “The question is how the ships got in that close range.” 
 
 The location of the damage on the McCain seemed to indicate that the ship had tried to maneuver out of the away, Roberts said. “The fact that the ship is still running is a tribute to some quick thinking on the part of the crew,” he said. 
 
 In a statement addressing the collision between the USS John S. McCain and an oil tanker near Singapore, Navy Adm. John Richardson ordered an "operational pause" and fleet wide investigation. (U.S. Navy) 
 
 Read More: 
 
 Top officers of the USS Fitzgerald to be disciplined following deadly collision 
 
 Sailors made tough call to seal flooding ship areas; unclear if survivors inside 
 
 ‘There wasn’t a lot of time’ as water flooded U.S. destroyer below decks ||||| SINGAPORE: The US destroyer John S McCain collided with a tanker early on Monday (Aug 21) as the warship prepared to make a routine port call in Singapore, leaving a gaping hole in its hull and 10 sailors missing. 
 
 It was the second recent accident involving an American warship after a collision off Japan in June, raising questions about the US Pacific fleet and whether it is taking on too much as it tackles multiple challenges. 
 
 Here are some questions and answers about collision avoidance procedures and what may have caused the latest accident: 
 
 WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE FOR SHIPS PASSING? 
 
 
 
 Commercial vessels use standard marine radar and must also have an Automatic Identification System (AIS), which connects to satellites for vessel tracking and displays the location of other ships. 
 
 However navy vessels often fail to turn on these AIS systems, which can create problems for commercial shipping when their military counterparts use busy waterways, according to Claudia Norrgren, an associate director of VesselsValue which provides data about shipping. 
 
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 WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED THIS TIME? 
 
 
 
 Analysts say an investigation must be carried out before firm conclusions can be drawn but some suggested that the US Navy ship may not have stuck to the rules for ships in the Strait of Singapore. 
 
 Ridzwan Rahmat, a naval expert from Jane's by IHS Markit, said the accident happened on the eastern approach to the busy strait, in an area governed by a system that separates shipping into two lanes. 
 
 Initial indications suggest the tanker, the Alnic MC, was following the rules but the USS John S McCain may not have been in a proper position as it entered the waterway, he said. 
 
 He said it might be a sign of crew fatigue among the US Navy in the Pacific and there could be "a rethink on the kind of operations that the US Navy will be conducting moving forward, especially the freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea". 
 
 This photo released by the Royal Malaysian Navy shows the oil and chemical tanker Alnic MC after a collision with the US destroyer John S McCain. (Photo: Royal Malaysian Navy via AP) 
 
 The McCain earlier this month had carried out such a operation, which is designed to assert international navigational rights in the face of Chinese claims to most of the Sea. 
 
 AREN'T THERE ANY SAFEGUARDS? 
 
 
 
 There are well-established rules for vessels navigating waterways around Singapore, such as a mandatory reporting system for vessels over a certain size, said Jayendu Krishna, director of Drewry Maritime Advisors. 
 
 All ships are equipped with navigational safety equipment, and naval ships are likely to have even better and more high-tech systems, he added. 
 
 HOW OFTEN DOES THIS KIND OF THING HAPPEN? 
 
 
 
 The growth of maritime traffic in the busy trade routes around Singapore, particularly the Strait of Malacca and adjacent Strait of Singapore, has increased the risk of accidents and minor collisions are frequent, analysts say. 
 
 There are currently 268 cargo vessels in the Singapore Strait of the same type and size of the Alnic MC, said Norrgren of VesselsValue. 
 
 But such a major collision is unusual, she added. ||||| FILE - In this Aug. 21, 2017, file photo, provided by the U.S. Navy, damage is visible as the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain steers towards Changi naval base in Singapore following a collision... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Five officers involved in two Navy ship collisions last year that killed a total of 17 sailors are being charged with negligent homicide, the Navy said Tuesday. 
 
 A Navy spokesman, Capt. Greg Hicks, said the charges, which also include dereliction of duty and endangering a ship, will be presented to what the military calls an Article 32 hearing to determine whether the accused are taken to trial in a court-martial. 
 
 The disciplinary actions were decided by Adm. Frank Caldwell and are the latest in a series of moves the Navy has made in the aftermath of the deadly collisions, which investigators concluded were avoidable. It fired several top leaders, including the commander of the 7th Fleet, Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, and several other senior commanders in the Pacific. 
 
 The Navy has been reeling from tough questions arising from the two collisions. The destroyer USS Fitzgerald struck a commercial ship off the waters of Japan in June, killing seven U.S. sailors. The destroyer USS John S. McCain collided with an oil tanker in coastal waters off Singapore in August, killing 10 U.S. sailors. 
 
 The Navy said it is filing at least three charges against four officers of the Fitzgerald, including the commanding officer, who was Cmdr. Bryce Benson at the time. Benson suffered a head injury in the collision and was airlifted to the U.S. Naval Hospital at Yokosuka, Japan. A Navy investigation found that Benson left the ship's bridge before the collision. Also facing charges are two lieutenants and one lieutenant junior grade, whose names were not disclosed. The Navy said all four face criminal charges, including negligent homicide, dereliction of duty and endangering a ship. 
 
 Fewer officers from the McCain are being charged. The Navy said the ship's commander at the time, Cmdr. Alfredo J. Sanchez, is being charged with negligent homicide, dereliction of duty and endangering a ship. A chief petty officer, whose name was not disclosed, faces a charge of dereliction of duty. 
 
 In a statement, Hicks said the announcement of charges Tuesday is "not intended to and does not reflect a determination of guilt or innocence related to any offenses. All individuals alleged to have committed misconduct are entitled to a presumption of innocence." 
 
 Hicks said that in addition to the criminal charges, additional administrative actions are being taken against unidentified members of both crews, including non-judicial punishment for four from the Fitzgerald and four from the McCain. 
 
 As a result of the two deadly accidents, at least eight top Navy officers, including the 7th Fleet commander, were fired from their jobs last year, and a number of other sailors received reprimands or other punishment that was not publicly released. Among the senior officers relieved of duty, in addition to Aucoin, were Rear Adm. Charles Williams and Capt. Jeffrey Bennett. Williams was the commander of Task Force 70, which includes the aircraft carriers, destroyers and cruisers in the 7th Fleet, and Bennett was commander of the destroyer squadron. 
 
 In a report released last November, the Navy concluded that the two crashes, as well as a third collision in May and a ship grounding, were all avoidable, and resulted from widespread failures by the crews and commanders who didn't quickly recognize and respond to unfolding emergencies. 
 
 A second report called for about 60 recommended changes to address the problems. They ranged from improved training on seamanship, navigation and the use of ship equipment to more basic changes to improve sleep and stress management for sailors. 
 
 The extensive training and leadership failures prompted the top Navy officer, Adm. John Richardson, to order all naval commanders around the world to review their staffs and ships to see if they had similar problems. 
 
 The Navy's investigation of the two collisions found that in addition to bad judgment, the crews were not adequately prepared. 
 
 "In the Navy, the responsibility of the Commanding Officer for his or her ship is absolute," it said. "Many of the decisions made that led to this incident were the result of poor judgment and decision making of the Commanding Officer. That said, no single person bears full responsibility for this incident. The crew was unprepared for the situation in which they found themselves through a lack of preparation, ineffective command and control, and deficiencies in training and preparations for navigation."
– The search goes on for 10 missing US sailors after yet another accident involving a Navy ship. On Monday, Navy chief John Richardson took the rare step of ordering an "operational pause" in naval operations around the world so fleet commanders can assess what's going on, reports the Navy Times. Richardson, who pronounced himself "heartbroken" over the latest disaster, also ordered a broader investigation that goes beyond the details of the latest incidents and gets at the "root causes" of the problems. "This is the second collision in three months and is the last in a series of incidents in the Pacific theater," he said. "This trend demands more forceful action." Coverage: The collision: The USS John S. McCain, a destroyer, collided with an oil tanker off the coast of Singapore as it prepared to enter a port there. The collision happened just before dawn in one of the world's most congested shipping lanes, reports the New York Times. Things can get confusing in a hurry, especially in the dark. Protocol: There should have been plenty of crew members on deck looking for the lights of nearby ships, and, given the congestion, it wouldn't have been unusual for the ship's commander to be on the bridge, too. "Clearly at some point, the bridge team lost situational awareness," says Adm. William F. Moran, vice chief of naval operations, per the Washington Post. Out of position? The accident happened on the eastern approach to the Strait of Singapore, and AFP quotes one naval expert from Jane's who says, based on early reports, that the naval ship may not have been in the proper position, a possible sign of crew fatigue. The strait is only 10 miles wide, not leaving much room for error. It's a "dynamic environment" requiring extra vigilance, says one marine insurance official. Fourth this year: This is the fourth accident involving a US Navy ship in Asian waters this year, and CNN has details on all of them. The other big one, of course, was a June collision involving the USS Fitzgerald that left seven sailors dead. Prior to that, a South Korean fishing ship hit the USS Lake Champlain, and the US Antietam ran aground off Japan. A list at the New York Times goes back further. Not that John McCain: The ship in the latest accident isn't named for Vietnam war hero Sen. John McCain. It's named for his father and grandfather, both of them naval commanders during World War II, and the Sacramento Bee provides details on their careers.