U.S. sailors’ bodies found in ship after crash
Remains not recovered for all 7 missing; search effort continues at sea
YOKOSUKA, Japan — Navy divers found the bodies of missing sailors Sunday aboard the stricken USS Fitzgerald, which collided with a container ship in the sea off Japan, the Navy said.
Searchers gained access to the spaces that were damaged during the collision and brought the remains to Naval Hospital Yokosuka where they will be identified, the Navy said in a statement.
Seven sailors had been missing, but Yoko Kato, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy in Yokosuka, said not all seven were recovered. She didn’t say how many were found.
Japan’s coast guard officials said the sea and air search was continuing at the collision site.
The Navy said that the families were being notified and provided the support they need during “this difficult time.” The names of the sailors will be released after all notifications are made.
Sixteen hours following the predawn Saturday collision, the damaged destroyer was pumping out water as it limped back to its home port in Yokosuka Naval Base south of Tokyo.
The Philippine-flagged container ship, the ACX Crystal, was berthed at Tokyo’s Oi wharf, where officials began questioning crew members about the crash.
At least three other Fitzgerald crew members, including the captain, were injured in the crash, which damaged two berthing spaces, a machinery room and the radio room. Most of the more than 200 sailors aboard would have been asleep in their berths at the time of the collision.
It wasn’t clear what caused the crash. The Fitzgerald was about 64 miles south of Yokosuka around 2:30 a.m. Saturday when the Crystal crashed nose-first into the destroyer’s starboard, or right, side. It was a clear night, but the crash occurred in a busy sea lane.
Japanese coast guard officials were treating the incident as a case of possible professional negligence, Masayuki Obara, a regional coast guard official, said.