YOKOSUKA, Japan — The U.S. Navy ended search and rescue efforts for the seven sailors missing after their destroyer collided with a merchant ship in waters off Japan and a number of bodies were found Sunday in flooded compartments, including sleeping quarters.
Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin addressed reporters at a Navy base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, but wouldn’t say how many bodies were recovered, pending notification of next of kin.
The USS Fitzgerald sustained significant damage after a collision with a Philippine-flagged merchant ship on Saturday around 2:20 a.m. Aucion paid tribute to the crew’s efforts to save their ship, saying they prevented it from sinking.
The bodies were found by Navy divers Sunday, a day after it returned to the base in Yokosuka with the help of tug boats.
Aucoin said 116 crew members were in two berthing rooms, most of them likely resting at the time of the collision. The skipper, who was injured in the head and airlifted to shore, was also in his room resting, Aucoin said, adding that he was lucky to have survived. The Navy said earlier the ship had about 300 crew on board.
Apart from the berthing spaces, a machinery room and the radio room also were damaged and began taking in water after the destroyer was rammed mid-right side. Aucoin said the crash left a big hole below the water line.
Those who did not survive might have been killed by the impact of the crash or drowned by the flooding, said Navy spokesman Lt. Paul Newell, who led reporters for a first look at the mangled vessel.
Japan’s coast guard officials said the sea and air search was still continuing at the site of the collision, 56 nautical miles southwest of Yokosuka, home to the 7th Fleet.
The Navy said victims’ families were being notified and provided the support they need during “this difficult time.” The names of the sailors will be released after all notifications are made.
Sixteen hours following the predawn Saturday collision, the destroyer was pumping out water as it limped back to its home port in Yokosuka Naval Base south of Tokyo by sunset Saturday, its crew lined up on deck. The Philippine-flagged container ship was berthed at Tokyo’s Oi wharf, where officials began questioning crew members about the cause of the crash.
At least three other crew members of the Fitzgerald, including the captain, were injured.
“This has been a difficult day,” said Vice Adm. Joseph P. Aucoin, the commander of the 7th Fleet. “I am humbled by the bravery and tenacity of the Fitzgerald crew. Now that the ship is in Yokosuka, I ask that you help the families by maintaining their privacy as we continue the search for our shipmates,” he said before the announcement that the bodies were found.
The USS Fitzgerald’s captain, Cmdr. Bryce Benson, was airlifted early Saturday to the U.S. Naval Hospital in Yokosuka and was in stable condition with a head injury, the Navy said. Two other crew members suffered cuts and bruises and were evacuated. It was unclear how many others may have been hurt.
The Japanese coast guard said it received an emergency call from the container ship, the ACX Crystal, reporting the collision around 2:20 a.m.. It was questioning crew members of the ACX Crystal, which is operated by the Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen K.K., and was treating the incident as a case of possible professional negligence, said Masayuki Obara, a regional coast guard official.
“Thoughts and prayers with the sailors of USS Fitzgerald and their families,” President Donald Trump said on Twitter. “Thank you to our Japanese allies for their assistance.”
The ACX Crystal weighs 29,060 tons and is 730 feet long, the coast guard said, much larger than the 8,315-ton Navy destroyer.
The container ship’s left bow was dented and scraped, but it did not appear to have sustained any major structural damage.
Nippon Yusen said all of the ACX Crystal’s 20-member Filipino crew members were safe.
Conditions were clear at the time of the collision, though Yutaka Saito of the coast guard said the area is particularly busy with sea traffic.
