Collision damages Navy destroyer in Gulf

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer was left with a gaping hole on one side after it collided with an oil tanker early Sunday just outside the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The collision left a breach about 10 feet by 10 feet in the starboard side of USS Porter. No one was injured, the Navy said in a statement.

The collision with the Panamanian-flagged and Japanese-owned bulk oil tanker M/V Otowasan happened about 1 a.m. local time. Photos released by the Navy showed workers standing amid twisted metal hanging down from the hole.

The incident is under investigation, the Navy said, though the collision was not "combat related." There were no reports of spills or leakages from either the USS Porter or the Otowasan, the Navy said.

Navy spokesman Greg Raelson said the destroyer now is in port in Jebel Ali, Dubai. "We're just happy there were no injuries," he said.

The USS Porter is on a scheduled deployment to the 5th Fleet, which is based in Bahrain, an island nation in the Gulf, near Iran.

The Strait of Hormuz, at the mouth of the Gulf, is a crowded and tense waterway where one-fifth of the world's oil is routed. Tensions have risen there over repeated Iranian threats to block tanker traffic in retaliation for tighter sanctions by the West. The sanctions are aimed at persuading Iran to abandon its uranium enrichment program, so far without success.

The United States stoked the flames recently with an announcement that it will send Navy minesweepers and warships into the Gulf for exercises. The U.S. military maneuvers are scheduled for September and will include ships from about 20 American allies.

Iranian commanders and political leaders have stepped up threats and defiant statements in recent weeks over the strait.