By Lara Seligman

Two people reported minor injuries Wednesday when a U.S. warship and a Navy supply vessel assigned to the military buildup in the Caribbean collided during a ship-to-ship refueling, according to a military spokesman.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Truxtun and the Supply-class fast combat support ship USNS Supply collided during a replenishment-at-sea, according to U.S. Southern Command spokesman Col. Emmanuel Ortiz. Two people reported minor injuries and are in stable condition, and both ships have reported that they are able to continue sailing safely, Ortiz said.

The cause of the collision isn't yet clear and the incident is under investigation, Ortiz said. The exact location of the collision wasn't immediately available. The Truxtun left its home port of Norfolk, Va., on Feb. 6 to begin its scheduled deployment. The Supply has been operating in the Caribbean. A military official said the collision was in the Southern Command area of responsibility, which includes the Caribbean and parts of the South Atlantic and South Pacific.

Separately, a Marine died after falling from the USS Iwo Jima in the Caribbean on Feb. 7, the Marine Corps announced Thursday. Lance Cpl. Chukwuemeka E. Oforah was declared dead after an extensive 72-hour search-and-rescue operation. The incident is under investigation.

President Trump ordered a massive naval buildup in the Caribbean in recent months to support his campaign against drug traffickers in the region. There are 12 warships in U.S. Southern Command, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group.

So-called underway replenishments like the one involving the Truxtun and Supply involve transferring food, supplies and fuel between two ships sailing side-by-side. Ships like the Supply are owned by the Navy but primarily operated by civilian mariners.

Collisions involving Navy warships are relatively rare and can be deadly. Seventeen sailors died in two separate collisions between Navy destroyers and merchant ships in the Pacific in 2017.

On June 17, 2017, the destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with MV ACX Crystal, a Philippine-flagged containership, about 90 miles from Japan, killing seven sailors. Just two months later, on Aug. 21, Liberian-flagged tanker Alnic MC struck the destroyer USS John S. McCain in the busy waterway of the Strait of Malacca near Singapore, ripping a hole in the hull and drowning another 10 sailors.

The Navy concluded in investigations later that year that both crashes were avoidable and stemmed from crew failures. The incidents resulted in the removal of several senior Navy officials, including the commander of U.S. 7th Fleet, and the commanders and executive officers of both the McCain and the Fitzgerald.

More recently, the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman collided with a merchant vessel on Feb. 12, 2025, near Port Said, Egypt. No injuries were reported.

Write to Lara Seligman at lara.seligman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 12, 2026 09:36 ET (14:36 GMT)

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