US officials have said the Navy is to dismiss Vice Adm Joseph Aucoin as commander of the Seventh Fleet following a string of collisions involving warships in Asia. Ten sailors are still missing after the USS John S McCain collided with an oil tanker near Singapore on Monday.
The crash was the fourth such incident in a year. The Seventh Fleet, based in Yokosuka, Japan, is the largest forward-deployed fleet in the US Navy, with some 50 to 70 vessels and submarines. Vice Adm Aucoin, who has been its commander since 2015, was due to retire within weeks.
His removal is the latest in a series of steps taken by navy officials after the USS John S McCain collision. It is not clear when a formal announcement will be made.
