US nuclear sub ‘may have hit an oil rig’ in South China Sea

Ex-PLA naval instructor says the area is a complex underwater environment and a lack of coordination would lead to collision

Chi Guocang also urged Beijing to strengthen its anti-submarine defence capabilities

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The South China Sea is littered with abandoned oil rigs, some at depths of up to 100 metres, according to a former senior instructor at the PLA’s Naval Submarine Academy. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 11:30am, 13 Nov 2021

The USS Connecticut nuclear submarine may have been damaged in a collision with an abandoned oil rig in the South China Sea last month, according to a former Chinese naval instructor.

Chi Guocang, previously a senior instructor for the PLA’s Naval Submarine Academy, also urged Beijing to strengthen China’s anti-submarine defence capabilities, in response to the “unusual domineering behaviour” shown by the US in the disputed waterway.

Writing in the latest issue of mainland magazine Naval and Merchant Ships, Chi said companies from a number of countries had left old oil rigs in the resource-rich South China Sea, sometimes up to 80 to 100 metres (260 to 330 feet) below the surface.

“If those companies didn’t make a timely report, or if the chart used by the US navy was not marked and updated, these rigs would become dangerous underwater obstacles,” he said.

“If the Connecticut hit a rig head-on at this depth and damaged the integrated sonar array – which would not be fatal to the submarine – the submarine would be unable to navigate normally underwater and forced to surface.”

Chi said other possibilities could not be ruled out, and a submarine could also be damaged by giant fishing nets or other independent objects.