U.S. destroyer slightly damaged in collision

A U.S. guided-missile destroyer, USS Benfold, sustained minor damage when a Japanese tug drifted into it during a towing exercise off central Japan on Saturday.

‘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 U.S. Seventh Fleet said. 

‘Benfold remains at sea under her own power. The Japanese commercial tug is being towed by another vessel to a port in Yokosuka. The incident will be investigated,’ it said.

The USS Benfold (pictured) sustained minor damage in the collision on Saturday with a Japanese tugboat

The incident, which occurred in Japan’s Sagami Bay, marks the fifth time the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet in the Pacific has been involved in a crash. 

The U.S. Navy announced a series of reforms this month aimed at restoring basic naval skills and alertness at sea after a review of deadly ship collisions in the Asia-Pacific region showed sailors were under-trained and over-worked.

Seventeen sailors have been killed this year in two collisions with commercial vessels involving guided-missile destroyers, the Fitzgerald in June off Japan and then the John S. McCain in August as it approached a port in Singapore.

 ‘It was one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world,’ said retired Marine colonel and a former deputy assistant secretary of state Steve Ganyard. 

‘One-third of all maritime shipping goes through here,’ Ganyard said. ‘So there were probably extenuating circumstances but no doubt, as we saw in the Fitzgerald, there was probably human error involved, as well.’  

The incident, which occurred in Japan's Sagami Bay, marks the fifth time the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet in the Pacific has been involved in a crash (pictured USS Fitzgerald)

The incident, which occurred in Japan’s Sagami Bay, marks the fifth time the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet in the Pacific has been involved in a crash (pictured USS Fitzgerald)

Seventeen sailors have been killed this year in two collisions with commercial vessels in Japan (pictured USS John McCain)

Seventeen sailors have been killed this year in two collisions with commercial vessels in Japan (pictured USS John McCain)

On Jan. 31,  the USS Antietam ran aground off the coast of Japan, damaging its propellers and spilling oil into the water.

The Navy Times reported that the guided-missile destroyer grounded spilled an estimated 1,100 gallons of oil into Tokyo Bay. No one was injured in the incident.

The USS Lake Champlain crashed into South Korean fishing boat on May 9 during a routine training exercise.

The ship, also a guided-missile cruiser, crashed into the 9.8-ton fishing boat while in the Sea of Japan. 

No one was reported injured in the incident. 

On Jan. 31, the USS Antietam (pictured) ran aground off the coast of Japan, damaging its propellers and spilling oil into the water.

On Jan. 31, the USS Antietam (pictured) ran aground off the coast of Japan, damaging its propellers and spilling oil into the water.

The USS Lake Champlain (pictured left) crashed into South Korean fishing boat on May 9 during a routine training exercise 

The USS Lake Champlain (pictured left) crashed into South Korean fishing boat on May 9 during a routine training exercise 

 

 

 

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