New catastrophe for US Navy as ten sailors go missing when destroyer collides with an oil tanker, just two months after USS Fitzgerald smashed into Filipino cargo ship drowning seven crew (27 Pics)

Ten sailors are missing after an American warship collided with an oil tanker east of Singapore in the second accident involving US Navy destroyers in little more than two months.

The guided-missile destroyer USS John S McCain collided with the merchant vessel Alnic MC while heading to Singapore for a routine port call, the Navy said in a statement.

“Initial reports indicate John S McCain sustained damage to her port side aft,” the Navy said. “There are currently 10 sailors missing and five injured.”

A search-and-rescue mission was under way involving Singaporean ships, helicopters and tug boats, as well as US Navy aircraft.

“Thoughts & prayers are w/ our @USNavy sailors aboard the #USSJohnSMcCain where search & rescue efforts are underway,” Donald Trump tweeted as operations continued.

The warship was sailing under its own power and heading to port, the Navy said.

The Alnic MC is a Liberian-flagged, 183 metre-long oil or chemical tanker of 50,760 deadweight tonnes, according to shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon.

Shipping data showed it last sent a transponder signal at 2258 GMT Sunday and has since come to a halt 6-12 miles off the east coast of the Pengerang peninsula in Johor, southern Malaysia. The ship data showed it was “ballasting”, meaning that it was not loaded full of oil for cargo.

The waterways around Singapore are some of the busiest and most important in the world, carrying around a quarter of the world's trade in goods and oil.

The US Navy said last week it had removed the two senior officers and the senior enlisted sailor on a warship that almost sank off the coast of Japan in June after it was struck by a Philippine container ship.

That collision killed seven US sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer the USS Fitzgerald.

A picture of the US guided-missile destroyer after the collision shows the ship riding low in the water with a hole in its side near its waterline

Crew on board the USS John S. McCain, pictured, worked this morning  to perform emergency repairs on the vessel 

 Search and rescue crews from Malaysia and Singapore are helped to look for the ten missing American sailors

Malaysia's navy chief Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin tweeted that two Malaysian naval ships were deployed to help

'Malaysian Navy, Airforce and Maritime vessels and aircrafts deployed for #USSJohnSMcCain SAR. Pse pray for their safety,' Badaruddin tweeted Monday

Pictured is a map of the area where the collision happened posted to Twitter by Malaysia's navy chief

There was no immediate explanation for the collision and the Navy said an investigation would be conducted. The Japan-based 7th Fleet said the McCain (pictured in June) was heading to Singapore for a routine port visit

The Alnic MC (file photo) is an oil and chemical tanker that sails under the Liberain flag. It is 600feet long and has a gross tonnage of 30,000. The John McCain is 505feet long

A map shows the location where the Alnic MC came to a halt after a collision with the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain east of Singapore

Seven US Navy sailors were killed in the Fitzgerald collision in June. They are (top row, left to right) Fire Controlman 2nd Class Carlos Victor Ganzon Sibayan, 23, from Chula Vista, CA; Gunner's Mate Seaman Dakota Kyle Rigsby, 19, from Palmyra, VA; Sonar Technician 3rd Class Ngoc T Truong Huynh, 25, from Oakville, CT; and Yeoman 3rd Class Shingo Alexander Douglass, 25, from San Diego, CA. Bottom row (left to right Fire Controlman 1st Class Gary Leo Rehm Jr., from Elyria, OH; Personnel Specialist 1st Class Xavier Alec Martin, 24, from Halethorpe, MD; and Gunner's Mate 2nd Class Noe Hernandez, 26, from Weslaco, TX

The USS Fitzgerald and USS John S McCain are both ballistic missile defence (BMD) capable ships and part of the same Japan-based destroyer squadron. The Seventh Fleet has six ships assigned to BMD patrols, with half of those out on patrol at any one time.

Asked whether the US Navy would need to bring forward other ships to maintain its strength, a spokesman for the Seventh Fleet said it was “way too early to know”.

North Korea threatened last week to fire ballistic missiles towards the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, ratcheting up tensions with Mr Trump, who had threatened to unleash “fire and fury” on Pyongyang if it threatened the United States.

The vessel involved in the latest collision is named for the father and grandfather of US Republican Senator John McCain, who were both admirals in the United States Navy.

“Cindy & I are keeping America's sailors aboard the USS John S McCain in our prayers tonight - appreciate the work of search & rescue crews,” Mr McCain said on Twitter.

Senator McCain is a Vietnam War-era naval aviator who was shot down and held prisoner for five-and-a-half years. He is now undergoing treatment for brain cancer.