WASHINGTON D.C.: The U.S. Navy announced this week that it has replaced the top two officers in charge of the USS Montgomery, a combat ship based in San Diego, due to “a loss of confidence in their ability to command.”

In a rare termination of two high-ranking officials, Commander Richard Zamberlan and executive officer Commander Phillip Lundberg were both relieved of duty and will be reassigned to the Pacific Fleet’s Naval Surface Force, the Navy stated on 30th December.

Though the Navy did not disclose reasons for the dismissals, The New York Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that both Zamberlan and Lundberg had been removed due to their handling of a sexual harassment investigation, though details of the investigation and the two officers’ roles remain unclear.

According to the Navy statement, Cmdr. Dustin Lonero has been named the ship’s commanding officer “until a permanent relief is identified.”

The U.S. Navy has become tangled in several high-profile sexual harassment scandals within the last year.

Last April, a one-star admiral who oversaw Fleet Readiness Centers was relieved of duty following a sexual harassment investigation.

An inspector general report released last March also documented how the Navy’s former auditor-general had sexually harassed 12 female Naval Audit Service employees and “engaged in a pervasive pattern of sexual harassment and quid pro quo sexual propositions when interacting with female subordinates.”