Friday, June 16, 2017

BREAKING NEWS: U.S. Navy Destroyer Collides With Merchant Ship Off Japan. Injuries Are Being Reported


Reuters: U.S. Navy destroyer collides with merchant vessel near Japan

A U.S. Navy destroyer has collided with a merchant vessel southwest of Yokosuka, Japan, the U.S. Navy said on Friday.

In a statement, the Navy said the USS Fitzgerald collided with a merchant vessel 56 nautical miles southwest of Yokosuka and the extent of injuries to U.S. personnel "is being determined."

It added that the Navy had requested the assistance of the Japanese Coast Guard.

Japan's NHK public television website said that the commercial vessel is a Philippines container ship and that the destroyer had suffered some flooding and was "unable to operate".

Read more ....

More News On The US Navy Destroyer Fitzgerald Colliding With A Merchant Ship Off Japan

US Navy destroyer Fitzgerald collides with merchant ship -- Navy Times
U.S. Naval Vessel Collides With Merchant Ship Southwest of Japan -- NBC
USS Fitzgerald collides with Japanese vessel, Navy says -- CBS
US destroyer collides with merchant ship near Japan -- The Hill
US Navy destroyer collides with merchant ship off Japan -- Independent.ie
US Navy: USS Fitzgerald Collides With Merchant Vessel Off Japan Coast -- VOA
Injuries reported after US Navy destroyer collides with Japanese boat -- My Statesman

Update: NHK is reporting 7 US sailors are missing (link here).

9 comments:

Unknown said...

CBDR

Unknown said...

Captain of the Ship & OOD are toast.

It does not matter if it was not their fault.

Unknown said...

Most informative comment I've seen.

"If you have ever been to that area, it is hardly "open ocean". That is near two Navy bases (US and JMSDF), and 3 major shipping ports. I have seen as many as 100+ contacts on radar going into that area at 30 mile range."

https://www.navytimes.com/articles/us-navy-destroyer-collides-with-merchant-ship


Captain is still toast. It is not funny; it is just the way it is.

Unknown said...

Hull is untouched. It looks as though only the superstructure was hit.

Maybe the hull buckled.

Maybe the Phillipine flagged ship reversed propulsion a short time before hitting or the damage would have been much worse.

Maybe the Phillipine ship turned into them? It was hit midships.


Unknown said...

Going back to this comment:

"If you have ever been to that area, it is hardly "open ocean". That is near two Navy bases (US and JMSDF), and 3 major shipping ports. I have seen as many as 100+ contacts on radar going into that area at 30 mile range."

https://www.navytimes.com/articles/us-navy-destroyer-collides-with-merchant-ship


1) What is the maximum distance and the average distance between ships?

2) Given that distance how much reaction time do you have?

3) Given that reaction time, what can you expect out of trained people?

4) Are the rules adequate? Do they need Sea Traffic control given the shipping density, speeds, stopping distances and turning radii?

https://www.humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime/statistics

At least 3 people have to react and integrate data. That data could be scores of contacts and calculations.

It would be nice to make a sim and collect data and come up with projected accident rates.

Jay Farquharson said...

http://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/swos/_documents/NAVY+NAVDORM.pdf

Unknown said...

Well Jay,

You really screwed the pooch this time.

Gee, the military has regulations?

Who KNEW?

"Extra, Extra read all about , Jay points out the military has regulations."

Sure the Military has regs. The Captain will be found responsible. The Navy will point to lax training. These are foregone conclusions.

Sea Traffic Control, now that is an interesting idea.

Now, the Navy Times had some interesting discussion. There was some acrimony, but nponetheess it was interesting & informative. With Jay we get the Hodgkins view of the world.

Jay Farquharson said...

LMFAO,

The USN ship was t-boned by a Container Ship that takes many nautical miles to stop, or turn.

So, they were crossing in front of the Container ship,

A big no, no, see page 78,

When crossing the path of another ship, you always cross astern.

The general rule of thumb at sea, is the bigger ship has the right of way, even when it doesn't, because it's the bigger ship.

LMFAO

MaoTin said...

Reminds me of the "stories" U.S.S vs Lighthouse (Fictional Ones).