They didn't. The ship ran into THEM. Look at the photos, destroyer damaged under the brisge, ship damage at the bow.
Easy to make that assumption though as many papers headlined (underlines mine):
"US Navy Destroyer Collides With Container Ship" Reuters 06-16-17
"An American Navy destroyer Collided with a merchant container ship" WIRED – 06-16-17
"7 Navy Sailors Missing After U.S. Destroyer Collides With Merchant Vessel Off Japan" NY Times 06-17-17
"Seven Sailors Missing After US Navy Destroyer Collides With Merchant Vessel Off Japan" ZeroHedge 06-17-17
The usual slovenly reporting or the usual spin to make our military look bad.
The usual slovenly reporting or the usual spin to make our military look bad.
COLREGS say if you get hit on the starboard side it looks bad because you were in the wrong place.