Navy to consult with BP, Boeing to learn from ship collisions

Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer said on Wednesday that the service will consult with oil company BP North America and other outside firms as part of a readiness review announced after 17 sailors were killed in recent ship collisions. 

“We have reached out to industry who have gone through various different meaningful events and come out the other side,” Spencer said at a defense industry conference.

“We’re going to [look at] this as best practices for people who have come out the other side, and we really do expect this to be a learning experience as we’re set to go forward,” Spencer added.

{mosads}The independent review, ordered on Sept. 1, will seek input from companies that have experienced public disasters including BP, Boeing, shipping business Crowley Marine, shipping container firm Maersk and Sandia National Laboratories.

BP in 2010 caused the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, while Maersk in 2009 had a cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates.

Two guided missile destroyers, the USS Fitzgerald and the USS John McCain, collided with other vessels in recent months. The Fitzgerald collision on June 17 killed seven sailors, while the Aug. 20 McCain crash resulted in the death of 10 others.

Chief of Naval Operation Adm. John Richardson after the McCain incident ordered a service-wide investigation and safety review last month to look at Naval operations and training.

Spencer’s review is separate, but he said it would not be redundant.

He did not name who would lead the review.