Captain injured, sailors missing after ships collide
REUTERS TOKYO Seven crew members are missing and at least three injured after a United States Navy destroyer collided with a Philippine-flagged merchant vessel south of Tokyo Bay in Japan yesterday.
The Japanese Coast Guard said the US ship suffered some flooding but was not in danger of sinking, while the merchant vessel was able to sail away under its own power.
Rescuers were searching for the seven sailors, who were thought to have been thrown into the sea or possibly trapped inside damaged sections of the destroyer.
The US Navy said the USS Fitzgerald collided with the merchant ship in the early morning about 100 kilometres southwest of Yokosuka, in a rare incident on a busy waterway.
Three people aboard the destroyer had been medically evacuated, including the ship’s commanding officer, Commander Bryce Benson, who was reportedly in a stable condition after being airlifted to the US Naval Hospital in Yokosuka, the navy said.
The other two injured were transferred to the hospital with lacerations and bruises, while other injuries were being assessed, it said.
‘‘The USS Fitzgerald suffered damage on her starboard side above and below the waterline,’’ the navy said.
It said the full extent of the damage to the ship and the injuries to its crew were still being determined. The Fitzgerald was operating under its own power, ‘‘although her propulsion is limited’’.
Aerial footage from Japanese TV network NHK showed a large dent in the destroyer’s starboard side. The images showed it had been struck next to its Aegis radar arrays, behind its vertical launch tubes, causing what appeared to be significant damage to the deck and to part of the radar.
A US defence official said there was flooding in three compartments. NHK showed sailors working to pump water from flooded sections of the starboard side.
It was unclear how the collision happened. ‘‘Once an investigation is complete, then any legal issues can be addressed,’’ the 7th Fleet spokesman said. Reuters, AP