U.S. Navy Warship Drifts in Pacific After Losing Power

A U.S. Navy warship lost power and propulsion for several hours in the Indo-Pacific on Tuesday after experiencing an “engineering casualty” in its electrical system, a U.S. defense official said, according to CNN’s Brad Lendon.

The outage on the USS Higgins reportedly lasted “several hours,” leaving the vessel unable to maneuver and with key systems offline. (Photo: United States Navy)

The guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins, which carries a crew of about 300, temporarily lost power throughout the ship.

Cmdr. Matthew Comer, a spokesperson for the U.S. 7th Fleet, said initial reports point to an electrical malfunction that may have caused sparking or smoke before power was shut down.

Power and propulsion have since been restored, and no injuries were reported.

However, a defense official told CNN the outage lasted “several hours,” leaving the vessel unable to maneuver and with key systems offline.

Naval analyst Carl Schuster said such a situation renders a ship “electronically blind and immobile,” with emergency systems typically limited to basic communications and life support.