January 29, 2002	Tuesday	Ziqa’ad 14, 1422

WASHINGTON, Jan 28: Two US naval vessels — including a submarine involved in a collision last year with a Japanese fishing boat — collided in the Arabian Sea, a US military spokesman said Monday.

The nuclear-powered submarine USS Greeneville and the USS Ogden, a ship that transports troops and landing craft, briefly collided Sunday off the coast of Oman while transferring personnel from the Greeneville, Central Command spokesman Commander Dave Culler said.

No one was injured in the collision which occurred about 0555 GMT, he said. One of the Ogden’s fuel tanks was punctured below the water line, and the ship is leaking diesel fuel, he said.

“The discharge is being closely monitored and divers are assisting in repairing the tank,” Culler said.

In February, nine Japanese sailors died when the Greeneville collided with the fisheries training ship Ehime Maru as the submarine surfaced off the coast of Hawaii.

A US Navy court of inquiry concluded that overcrowding in the sub’s control room may have hampered its operations.

The collision, which cost the submarine commander, Scott Waddle, his Navy career, strained relations between the United States and Japan, as relatives of the missing Japanese accused the US Navy of carelessness and trying to sweep the matter under the rug.—AFP