US destroyer collides with tug boat

TOKYO - A US guided-missile destroyer collided with a Japanese commercial tug boat on Saturday, local media reported.

The USS Benfold (DDG 65) was participating in a scheduled towing exercise in Sagami Bay, Kanagawa Prefecture, when the tug boat lost propulsion and "drifted into" the ship, according to the US 7th Fleet.

"No-one was injured on either vessel and Benfold sustained minimal damage, including scrapes on its side, pending a full damage assessment," a statement from the 7th fleet said late on Saturday, adding the warship remained at sea under her own power.

"The Japanese commercial tug is being towed by another vessel to a port in Yokosuka," southwest of Tokyo, it said.

The Japanese coastguard said the tug lost control and drifted into the warship as a rope got caught in its propeller, but confirmed there were no injuries.

The 7th Fleet has been involved in more than one deadly collision in Asia so far this year.

The USS John S. McCain collided with a tanker off Singapore in August, killing 10 sailors and injuring five others.

Two months earlier in June, the USS Fitzgerald and a cargo ship smashed into each other off Japan, leaving seven sailors dead.

There were also two more lesser-known incidents. In January USS Antietam ran aground near its base in Japan, and in May, USS Lake Champlain collided with a South Korean fishing vessel.

Xinhua - AFP

(China Daily 11/20/2017 page12)