Thanks. I’m obviously speculating on what eventually transpired, but I’m reasonably certain the Wan Hai will factor into the final explanation.
If all three ships were within, say, two miles of each other, moving at 20 knots (or possibly higher in the case of the Fitzgerald), a lot can happen in five minutes, especially if the first two or three minutes are taken up by decisions and actions to avoid the course of the Wan Hai.
I agree with you that “the Fitz” should have detected and tracked both ships, and suspect that it will turn out that the information about the Crystal’s existence/track either never made it to the bridge, or was mis-interpreted when it arrived. Perhaps someone was so focused on the Wan Hai that they applied it to that ship instead of a second ship. Also, the Wan Hai would have been behind and to the port side of the Fitzgerald which might partially explain the failure of the watch to see the Crystal on the starboard side in time if they were attending to the Wan Hai.
Overlaying all this would be a concern by the OOD that maybe he should call the captain to the bridge given the proximity of the Wan Hai (assuming my description is reasonably accurate.) It certainly appears he should have done so, in retrospect.
Norseman,
I subscribed to Marine Traffic (two week free subscription. I did the premium version, but I would recommend the PRO or SAT version as you can download data.
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/p/plans
There were two ships nearby the ACX Crystal at the time of the collision.
On its port side the WAN HAI 266 (a container ship) was about two miles directly north of the ACX Crystal and was destined for Yokohama.
On its starboard side the Maersk Evora (a container ship) was about three miles behind and was destined for Los Angeles.
If you look at the paths of the three ships preceding the collision at 1:30 am, there was nothing unusual. The ACX Crystal had been on a 90 degree course for several hours and had recently changed to a 70 degree course to avoid Toshima Island and the Maersk Evora that was on a 60 degree course, traveling at 19.5 knots, and coming up on its starboard side.
What we do not know is the path of the USS Fitzgerald that somehow found a way to get between the Wan Hai 266 and the ACX Crystal and get hit.