Alwaght-Seven US Navy sailors are missing after USS Fitzgerald collided with a merchant vessel near Yokosuka, Japan.
According to a US Pacific Fleet spokesman, three other American sailors are being treated for injuries after the Saturday morning incident.
"There are seven Sailors unaccounted for; the ship and the Japanese Coast Guard continues to search for them," the US 7th Fleet has confirmed. Among the injured was the commanding officer of the USS Fitzgerald, Commander Bryce Benson. The crash occurred 56 nautical miles southwest of Yokosuka at 2:30am local time, June 17, according to the US Pacific Fleet.
US and Japanese rescue teams were continuing their search for the missing crew members – who have not been named – more than 12 hours after the USS Fitzgerald collided with the ACX Crystal, a Philippine-registered container ship, about 62 miles (100km) south-west of the military port city of Yokosuka.
Initial fears that the guided missile destroyer was at risk of sinking receded after US navy officials said flooding in three damaged sections of the vessel had been brought under control.
While the cause of the accident has yet to be determined, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said the ACX Crystal had made a sharp turn shortly before the collision.
The area where the wreck happened is known for heavy maritime traffic, the Japanese coast guard said. About 400 to 500 ships pass through the zone each day, the service said.
The last known fatal incident there was in September 2015, when a South Korean vessel and a Japanese container ship collided, Japan's coast guard reported. Six Japanese crew were declared dead.
The area has seen two other major collisions in the past five years.
The collision was the second in the region for US Navy warship in just more than a month. On May 9, the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain was struck by a South Korean fishing boat off the Korean Peninsula.
