It is said that a collision at sea will ruin your whole day. It can also be fatal and ruin careers. One such collision punctuates this in a big, expensive, and tragic way. Ten Navy sailors died and 31 were injured. The two ships sustained millions in damage. The careers of the commanding and executive officers aboard the Navy warship ended on that fateful voyage—true to the adage that it takes years to build a reputation and minutes to destroy it.

The 9,000-ton guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (the McCain) collided in the Singapore Strait with a 39,000-ton oil and chemical tanker Alnic MC (the Alnic). What resulted was a textbook case of maritime law involving issues of collision liability, apportionment of fault, federal admiralty procedure, choice of law, ship owners’ Petition for Exoneration from or Limitation of Liability and the preclusion against service members suing the military.