The Navy is investigating the death of a sailor on board the dock landing ship Harpers Ferry, which is deployed to the Middle East.
The sailor died Thursday at around 7:39 a.m. local time, a Naval Forces Central Command release said. The death is not combat related; there is no suspicion of foul play, the release said.
The Harpers Ferry is part of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group. The death occurred while the ship was steaming in the Gulf of Aqaba.
The sailor's death is the first underway fatality since a woman assigned to the dock landing ship Carter Hall was lost at sea near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The woman's disappearance tipped off a massive search and rescue effort that lasted three days but came up empty.
David B. Larter was the naval warfare reporter for Defense News.
