WASHINGTON/TOKYO • The United States Navy has removed the two senior officers and the senior enlisted sailor on an American warship that almost sank off the coast of Japan in June after it was struck by a Philippine container ship, said the navy yesterday..
WASHINGTON/TOKYO • The United States Navy has removed the two senior officers and the senior enlisted sailor on an American warship that almost sank off the coast of Japan in June after it was struck by a Philippine container ship, said the navy yesterday.
Multiple investigations have yet to apportion blame for the accident that killed seven US sailors aboard the USS Fitzgerald, a guided missile destroyer.
However, the punishments are the first public admission by the US Navy that mistakes by the crew contributed to the deadliest incident on a US warship since Islamist extremists bombed the USS Cole in Yemen’s Aden harbour in 2000.
“The collision was avoidable and both ships demonstrated poor seamanship. Within Fitzgerald, flawed watch stander teamwork and inadequate leadership contributed to the collision, ” the US Seventh Fleet said in a media release.
In the first detailed account from someone directly involved in the collision in the early hours of June 17, the captain of cargo ship ACX Crystal said in a report seen by Reuters that his crew signalled the Fitzgerald with flashing lights around 10 minutes before the accident. The warship did not respond or alter course, it said.
The commercial vessel had the right of way under maritime rules and the Fitzgerald, which was hit on the starboard side, was likely at fault.
