US Navy destroyer stranded for four days in South China Sea without bathrooms or AC - report

The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Benfold spent four days stranded in the South China Sea in July due to an engineering failure, CNN reported. The malfunction left the guided-missile destroyer, assigned to the 7th Fleet, without functioning bathrooms, air conditioning, or galley services. Navy Cmdr. Matthew Comer, a spokesperson for the 7th Fleet, confirmed the incident to the network, stating the ship was forced to stop its operations. While the crew suffered no injuries, meals were provided to the vessel by another ship during the outage. Former Navy captain Charles Schuster described the situation as potentially "quite stressful" for the crew and commanders. He explained that operations officers would worry about crew morale, engineers would focus on repairs, and navigators would be concerned about drifting and weather. Schuster, who experienced a similar, though shorter, four-hour incident near Puerto Rico, noted that four days in the South China Sea would be significantly more stressful. The report also touches upon the redeployment of the USS George Washington aircraft carrier from the western Pacific to the Middle East, a move some analysts view as a security concern. Additionally, it mentions reports of worsening conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, including unhygienic bathrooms and food shortages, prompting concerns from U.S. lawmakers.

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It would have been quite stressful.