US Navy supply vessel in Middle East damaged after refuelling warships

Officials say the cause is under investigation

The USNS Big Horn sails alongside the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier on September 11. AP

A US Navy supply ship operating in the Middle East sustained damage and the cause was under investigation, officials said on Tuesday.

The USNS Big Horn was damaged after it resupplied the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group. It remained in the region amid heightened tension over the Israel-Hamas war and Israel's continuing strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A US Navy official declined to elaborate on where the damage took place. A photo released by the US military dated September 5 showed sailors aboard the Lincoln receiving supplies from the Big Horn, while another on September 11 showed the Big Horn alongside the Lincoln. The Lincoln is patrolling the Arabian Sea.

The official said the Big Horn's crew was safe and there was no sign of an oil leak from the vessel. Another US official said the vessel was being supported by private tugboats to head into a port and an assessment of the damage was continuing.

Rumours about the Big Horn's condition began circulating early on Tuesday after images posted to a website that tracks shipping, called Captain, showed flooding purportedly on board the Henry J Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oiler. The website described the Big Horn as “ran aground … and partially flooded off the coast of Oman”.

Although the Lincoln is powered by a nuclear reactor, its strike group has vessels powered by fossil fuel that need to be resupplied at sea. The aircraft aboard the Lincoln also need jet fuel. The Big Horn and other ships like it also provide other supplies.

The US official called the damage to the refueller an inconvenience, but said the fleet would continue to be able to operate without it. The strike group's destroyers can refuel in port and they can carry aviation gas to the carrier to supply the on-board fighter jets and surveillance aircraft.

Oilers like the Big Horn typically have about 80 civilians and five military personnel on board.

It remains unclear if there are any other replenishment ships like it immediately available in the Middle East. An AP survey of publicly released military images of similar ships run by the US Navy's Military Sealift Command showed none in the region in recent months. The command declined to comment.