VICTORIA – The quick action of a freighter captain averted a collision with an American nuclear-powered submarine just off the B.C. coast in October, according to a U.S. publication.
Navy Times, an independent publication that focuses on naval news, reported on its website that the two vessels came within 800 metres of each other in the Oct. 12 incident in the Juan de Fuca Strait, which separates B.C. and Washington state.
The USS Kentucky ballistic-missile submarine’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Joseph Nosse, had ordered a change of course, but the periscope wasn’t checked to see if the way was clear, Navy Times said.
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It wasn’t until the sub – invisible on the surface except for its periscope – was contacted by another vessel that crew discovered a merchant ship, Totem Ocean’s MV Midnight Sun, was blocking their way.
The Kentucky turned back to its last course, its bow swinging clear of the Midnight Sun. The captain of the 839-foot (255-metre) Midnight Sun, which runs between Tacoma, Washington, and Anchorage, Alaska, also had spotted the sub, and turned left to avert a collision.
Nosse was relieved of his command of the Bangor, Washington-based submarine a week later, said the Navy Times, which obtained information about the incident through a Freedom of Information Act request. He was reassigned to Submarine Group 9.
Lt. Ed Early, a spokesman for Submarine Group 9, told the Navy Times that Nosse’s reassignment did not stem solely from the near miss and “was related to shortfalls in professional performance.”
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