SINGAPORE: The commander of the US Pacific Fleet said that some remains of Navy sailors were found in a compartment of the USS John McCain on Tuesday, a day after the warship's collision with an oil tanker in Southeast Asian waters left 10 sailors missing.
Admiral Scott Swift said at a news conference in Singapore that Malaysian officials had found one body, which had yet to be identified.
The focus of the search for the missing sailors shifted on Tuesday to the damaged destroyer's flooded compartments. The collision on Monday tore a gaping hole in the McCain's left rear hull and flooded adjacent compartments including crew berths and machinery and communication rooms.
Five sailors were injured.
"The divers were able to locate some remains in those sealed compartments during their search," Swift said, adding that it was "premature to say how many and what the status of recovery of those bodies is."
He said that the body found by the Malaysians would have to be identified to "determine whether it's one of the missing sailors or not."
It was the second major collision in two months involving the Pacific-based 7th Fleet, and the Navy has ordered a broad investigation into its performance and readiness. Seven sailors died in June when the USS Fitzgerald and a container ship collided in waters off Japan.
There were two lesser-known incidents in the first half of the year. In January, the USS Antietam guided missile cruiser ran aground near Yokosuka base, the home port of the 7th Fleet, and in May another cruiser, the USS Lake Champlain from the Navy's 3rd Fleet, had a minor collision with a South Korean fishing boat.
"While each of these four incidents is unique, they cannot be viewed in isolation," Swift said.
He said that the Navy would conduct a probe "to find out if there is a common cause ... and if so, how do we solve that."
Earlier on Tuesday, the 7th Fleet said that the sea search by aircraft and ships from the US, Singapore and Malaysian navies would continue east of Singapore where the McCain and the tanker collided at daybreak on Monday but the deployment of divers to search inside the warship, now docked at Singapore's naval base, was a blow to families still hoping for a miracle.
Megan Partlow of Ohio, who said that her fiance was on board the McCain, said in a Facebook message that they last communicated on Sunday and she was losing hope of seeing him again.
"My last text to him was 'be safe,' which is the same way we end every conversation. I'm just ready for answers," she said. The identities of the missing have not been disclosed but Partlow said her fiance's parents were in touch with the Navy's assistance centre.