Terrifying moment US Navy warships collide as crew seen running for their lives

Moment two US Navy warships collide in Caribbean

This is the shocking moment that a US Navy destroyer and supply ship collided in the Caribbean. Footage from onboard the Supply-class fast combat support ship USNS Supply shows running from the ship's edge as the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Truxtun heads straight for the vessel. 

The incident occurred during a refuel operation, the US military's Southern Command confirmed. Two people reported minor injuries during Wednesday's (February 11) replenishment-at-sea operation, spokesman Col. Emmanuel Ortiz told the Wall Street Journal, and are in stable condition. Such an operation involves transferring supplies and fuel between two ships sailing side by side. Both vessels then continued sailing safely from the incident site near South America. Southern Command did not say what caused the collision and said the incident was currently under investigation.

USS Truxtun collided with USNS Supply in the Caribbean on Wednesday (Image: Getty)

Both vessels were assigned to the military build-up in the Caribbean that President Donald Trump ordered to clamp down on drug trafficking in the region. In November, the USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group joined a flotilla of a dozen Navy ships and roughly 12,000 troops.

The build-up comes under Operation Southern Spear - the Trump administration’s campaign against what it calls “narco-terrorists” in the Western Hemisphere. Since early September, US forces have launched at least 20 attacks on suspected drug-running boats across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing more than 80 people.

On Thursday (February 12), two people died after the US military struck an alleged drug boat in the eastern Pacific. 

Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro was arrested in a nighttime raid in January (Image: Getty)

The US has also used its military presence in the region to enforce sanctions against Venezuelan oil, after arresting the country's president, Nicolas Maduro, in a nighttime raid in January.

American forces have seized seven oil tankers linked to Venezuela as part of Mr Trump’s campaign, with the administration arguing that it has already crippled the trade, with analysts estimating more than 80% of shipments have been halted. Trump’s administration expects to sell between 30 million and 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan crude.

Key seizures include the Russian-flagged tanker Marinera (formerly Bella 1) in the Atlantic, with UK military support. "Shadow fleet" crude oil tanker M/T Sophia was also intercepted in the Caribbean and escorted to the US.