7 US Navy crew missing after collision in Japan

Yokosuka, Japan, June 17: The US and Japan were conducting a major search operation on Saturday to find seven missing American sailors after their navy destroyer collided with a much larger container ship, crushing the side of the military vessel.

Planes, boats and helicopters scoured the seas off Japan’s Pacific coast in a bid to find the crew who disappeared in the predawn accident, which also left the USS Fitzgerald’s commander injured.

The collision between the 500 foot guided missile destroyer and 222-metre Philippine-flagged container ship ACX Crystal happened around 2:30 am (1730 GMT Friday) off the coast of the Izu peninsula, southwest of Tokyo.

The US warship — part of its right side caved in as crew members pumped water from flooded areas — was pulled by a tugboat as it limped back to base in Yokosuka, where the navy said divers were trying to reach parts of the vessel smashed in the accident.

It was not clear where the missing sailors were when the huge vessels collided. — AFP

AP The damage of the right side of the USS Fitzgerald is seen off Shimoda, Shizuoka prefecture, Japan, after the Navy destroyer collided with a merchant ship. —

Marine traffic records suggest it was travelling at 27km/h at the time of the collision. The ACX Crystal, a 730ft Filipino-flagged container ship, was travelling between Nagoya and Tokyo. It made a sudden Uturn roughly 25 minutes before the collision...