Aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman collides with ship in Mediterranean Sea

The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman collided with a large merchant vessel Wednesday night in the vicinity of Port Said, Egypt, in the Mediterranean Sea.

"The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) was involved in a collision with the merchant vessel Besiktas-M at approximately 11:46 p.m. local time, Feb. 12, while operating in the vicinity of Port Said, Egypt, in the Mediterranean Sea," a statement from the U.S Navy's Sixth Fleet said.

The collision involved a rare collision of two large vessels as the 100,000 ton aircraft carrier collided with the 53,000 ton merchant vessel Besitkas-M, a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship.

There are no reports of injuries or flooding aboard the carrier which carries a crew of 5,000 Sailors and the incident is under investigation.

The Truman is powered by two nuclear reactors and four propulsion systems, the Sixth Fleet statement said the ship's propulsion plants were unaffected and were said to be in "a safe and stable condition."

The aircraft carrier and it's strike group had been operating in the Red Sea since mid-December as part of the mission to thwart Houthi militant attacks launched from Yemen at commercial vessels transiting through that vital waterway.

The carrier had arrived at a Naval base in Crete earlier in the week, a rare break for the strike group that has been in constant operations though the pace had ebbed as Israel's ceasefire with Hamas took effect in mid-January.

The Houthis have claimed that their attacks on shipping were being carried out in support of Hamas.