San Diego
The San Diego-based destroyer Kinkaid will be taken to the Philippines for repairs estimated to cost $6 million before it sails the 8,000 miles to California, officials announced Thursday.
The Kinkaid had a 56-by-15-foot hole punched in its side when it collided before dawn with a merchant ship Nov. 12 in the Malacca Strait. The collision killed the Kinkaid’s 24-year-old navigator, Lt. Sean Michael McPhee.
The ship will first undergo temporary repairs to strengthen its hull so it can travel to the Philippines. The Singapore-based Smit Tak Salvage Co. will remove the buckled sections of the hull surrounding the hole and weld on a 70-foot-long steel plate patch. The patch will cover the hole, extending above and below the waterline. Other plates will be installed to ensure that the ship is watertight, officials said.
The patchwork, which will cost less than $1 million, is expected to be completed by mid-December, when the vessel will sail to the Navy Ship Repair Facility at Subic Bay for more extensive repairs on the hull, deck, bulkhead and shaft. Officials do not know the extent of the damage to the hull and its effect on the shaft alignment.
Navy officials said they chose Subic Bay for safety reasons and cost effectiveness.
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