Bodies found in damaged U.S. warship
Navy trying to determine how merchant vessel, destroyer collided off the coast of Japan
Tokyo — The U.S. Navy said today the bodies of sailors who went missing in the collision between the USS Fitzgerald and a container ship have been found aboard the stricken destroyer.
The Navy said in a statement that searchers had gained access to the spaces that were damaged during the collision. A total of seven sailors had been missing since Saturday’s crash off Japan’s coast.
The Navy said the remains are being transferred to Naval Hospital Yokosuka where they will be identified.
It said the families are being notified and being provided the support they need during “this difficult time.” The names of the sailors will be released after all notifications are made.
At the same time, civilian and military investigators tried to figure out how the nighttime collision between two vessels — both with advanced navigation systems — could have occurred.
“This has been a difficult day,” Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, the commander of the Seventh Fleet, said as the badly damaged USS Fitzgerald, an Aegis guided-missile destroyer, limped back into its home port at Yokosuka Naval Base, south of Tokyo, after emergency efforts at sea to control flooding.
The Fitzgerald collided with the Philippine-flagged ACX Crystal, nearly four times its size, in a busy shipping lane south of Tokyo at 2:30 a.m. local time Saturday. The weather was clear with a swell of about 6 feet at the time.
Captain among injured
Three of the Fitzgerald’s crew, including the destroyer’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Bryce Benson, were evacuated from the damaged vessel and are being treated at the U.S. naval hospital at Yokosuka, the home of the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet.
Benson was reported to be in stable condition, while the other two were treated for lacerations and bruises.
All three were awake and being kept under observation in hospital, the Seventh Fleet said in a statement.
The Fitzgerald, an Arleigh Burkeclass destroyer commissioned in 1995, is part of the Yokosuka-based group that includes the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, but it was operating independently of the carrier when the collision occurred, according to Cmdr. Ron Flanders, public affairs officer for U.S. Naval Forces Japan.
When its crew is at full strength, the Fitzgerald usually has more than 250 personnel aboard and can reach speeds in excess of 30 knots.
The operators of the merchant ship, ACX Crystal, reported all of the 20-member Filipino crew were safe.
The Crystal, which was fully loaded with cargo, is bound for Tokyo, according to a website that tracks maritime traffic. It is operated by Nippon Yusen K.K., a Japanese shipping company, and was on its way from Nagoya port at the time of the collision.
“We are collaborating with the ship owner and fully cooperating with the investigation by the coast guard,” Nippon Yusen said in a statement.
Photos showed the container ship with minor damage to its bow, while the Fitzgerald appeared to have extensive damage midship on its right, or starboard, side, just below its bridge.
Ship showing a list
The destroyer was listing slightly, with water visibly being pumped, as it was towed into harbor.
Divers were waiting to inspect it below the waterline, where there had also been significant damage.
The collision caused flooding in two berthing spaces, a machinery space and the radio room, the Seventh Fleet said.
“Thoughts and prayers with the sailors of USS Fitzgerald and their families,” President Donald Trump wrote in a Twitter message Saturday. “Thank you to our Japanese allies for their assistance.”
The USS Dewey, another Navy destroyer, was helping with the search and rescue operations, along with three Japanese naval ships and two Japanese coast guard vessels.
An American P-8 Poseidon aircraft was joined overhead by Japanese helicopters and an Orion aircraft.
There are extensive international guidelines for accident avoidance at sea known as the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, or Colregs.