Update | Skipper of cargo ship that almost sank US destroyer sailed in ‘same direction’ at time of deadly collision
While the cause of the accident remains a mystery, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said the ACX Crystal had made a sharp turn shortly before the collision with the US destroyer
The USS Fitzgerald came close to sinking or foundering after the collision with a container ship ripped a big gash under the warships waterline, the commander of the United States Navy’s Seventh Fleet said on Sunday.
The Fitzgerald, an Aegis guided missile destroyer, collided with the Philippine-flagged merchant vessel ACX Crystal some 56 nautical miles southwest of Yokosuka early on Saturday.
While the cause of the accident remains a mystery, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said the ACX Crystal had made a sharp turn shortly before the collision with the US destroyer.
But that account was later challenged by the ship’s skipper.
“(We) were sailing in the same direction as the US destroyer was and then collided,” he was quoted as saying by Jiji Press.
A spokesman for the container ship’s Japanese owner, NYK Line, later said: “We can’t comment on the accident as it’s being handled by the Japanese coastguard. We will fully cooperate with authorities investigating the case.”
The account from the cargo ship’s skipper came as the US Navy gave a damage assessment of the warship.