US Navy ship collides with tanker in Gulf

Damage to the US guided-missile destroyer USS Porter following a collision with the Japanese-owned bulk oil tanker 
M/V Otowasan in the Strait of Hormuz on August 12, 2012. Photo: AFP Source: AFP

A US Navy guided missile destroyer has been left with a gaping hole on one side after colliding with an oil tanker just outside the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The collision left a breach about three by three metres in the starboard side of USS Porter. No one was injured on either vessel, the US Navy said in a statement.

The collision with the Panamanian-flagged and Japanese-owned bulk oil tanker M/V Otowasan happened early on Sunday local time.

Photos released by the navy showed workers standing amid twisted metal and other debris hanging down from the hole.

The cause of 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 is now in port in Jebel Ali, Dubai.

"We're just happy there were no injuries," he said. "An investigation is under way."

- AAP