Posted on 10/27/2009 7:41:17 PM PDT by GATOR NAVY
A Japanese navy destroyer and a South Korean container ship collided Tuesday off southern Japan, sparking fires on both ships and injuring three crew members, officials said.
The ships collided under a bridge linking the Japanese main islands of Kyushu and Honshu in the narrow Kanmon Strait, Japan Coast Guard spokesman Seishi Izumi said.
One crew member on the destroyer JS Kurama was slightly injured with scratches and bruises while two others were suffering from smoke inhalation, a Defense Ministry spokesman said on condition of anonymity, citing policy.
None of the South Korean ship's 16 crew members 12 from South Korea and four from Myanmar was injured, Izumi said.
The fire on the 7,400-ton container ship Carina Star was extinguished shortly after the collision. The blaze on the destroyer was mostly under control late Tuesday but its temperature was still extremely high, the defense official said.
Officials are investigating the case as possible professional negligence and have begun questioning crew members on both ships, Izumi said.
The defense official said the Japanese ship's bow was badly burned and mangled, but the vessel was still capable of traveling on its own. The container ship's hull was grazed near its bow.
TV footage showed orange flames shooting from the vessels in the dark.
Izumi said the fire apparently broke out as a result of the impact of the collision, with paint inside a storage room on the destroyer catching fire.
The accident occurred under the Kanmon Bridge connecting Kyushu and the western end of Honshu the narrowest part of the strait about 530 miles (850 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo, Izumi said.
All sea traffic in the strait was suspended for about four hours after the accident.
The Kurama, carrying 360 sailors, was on its way to its home port of Sasebo on Kyushu after serving as the flagship for the country's triennial fleet review Sunday at the port of Yokosuka. The container ship had left the South Korean port of Busan and was headed to Osaka in western Japan.
Last year, a collision between a destroyer and a tuna trawler off the coast of Chiba, near Tokyo, left two fishermen dead. That accident triggered an uproar in Japan, where many people harbor pacifist sentiments and remain sensitive to anything related to the military.
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa quickly held a news conference to express regret.
"We deeply apologize to the people for causing concerns," he said. "We will quickly find out what caused the accident."
Smoke billows from the bow of Japanese navy destroyer JS Kurama after it collided with a commercial vessel in Kanmon strait, off southern Japan, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009. The fire on the 7,400-ton container ship was extinguished shortly after the collision. The navy destroyer was still on fire late Tuesday, though it was largely under control.(AP Photo/Kyodo News)
Fire and smoke spew from the bow of Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyer Kurama as a ship crew tries to fight the fire in the Kammon Straits in Fukuoka prefecture, south of Japan October 27, 2009. The Japanese destroyer collided with a South Korean container ship on Tuesday night in the Kammon Straits, leaving a crew of JMSDF vessel Kurama injured, according to local media. (REUTERS/Mainichi Shimbun)
Water is hosed over the bow of Japanese navy destroyer JS Kurama on fire after it collided with a commercial vessel in Kanmon strait, off southern Japan, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009. The fire on the 7,400-ton container ship was extinguished shortly after the collision. The navy destroyer was still on fire late Tuesday, though it was largely under control.(AP Photo/Kyodo News)
Looks like the container ship destroyed the destroyer.
YOU SUNK MY BATTLESHIP !!!
How does that happen? It isn’t like they can’t see each other.
CAPTAIN: WHAT HAPPEN?
ADMIRAL: YOU NOT KNOW WHAT YOU DOING.
Entirely the destroyer’s fault, from what I can see.
JDS Kurama
"Attention all hands: Anyone on board have katana and piece of rice paper?"
OH wow I’m so relieved it wasn’t us...! Sounds terrible to say, I know.
When we’re involved in something like this, we just get the blame so hard and fast....FINALLY it happens to someone else..!!!
Boy neither side is going 2b tickled about THIS, I’ll tell ya that..!
For all of you who are out of work, you might want to fine tune your resumes as I think there might be an immediate vacancy for Captain in the Japanese Navy.
I know two somebodies that will shortly be getting relieved. One’s a Korean, and the other is Japanese. The Japanese naval officer is lucky that it’s not 1909 - otherwise, he’d be losing his head along with his commission.
Very neat ship.
The defense official said the Japanese ship's bow was badly burned and mangled, but the vessel was still capable of traveling on its own. The container ship's hull was grazed near its bow.
it could be both ship's fault. Both ships are obligated to maneuver in a meeting situation.
That said, from what I know of the straits a meeting situation is not common. Because of the currents traffic is generally one-way through the straits-stemming the current. Down stream traffic is discouraged and maybe even prohibited, I can't remember for sure.
Isn’t there some type of traffic control system?
arguing over girls in school uniforms, barely
That’s what everyone asked when the USS Belknap ran into the carrier Kennedy.
Well, most collisions require a mix of fault on the part of both ships.
Trust me, at night, in a narrow waterway, with the shore as lit up as it is here, it can be harder than you might think to track another ship's running lights. But that's where radar comes in as an aid.
>>Trust me, at night, in a narrow waterway, with the shore as lit up as it is here, it can be harder than you might think to track another ship’s running lights. But that’s where radar comes in as an aid.<<
Thanks, Navy — at least I understand how there may have been a cock-up that needs to be investigated.
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