Even without the results of a full-scale Navy investigation into the collision that saw the USS Fitzgerald Navy destroyer take a sideways hit from a Philippine-flagged container ship early Saturday morning, some assumptions seem plausible, said Joshua Philipp, security and defence reporter with The Epoch Times.
“I would assume that on the U.S. side, their options were somewhat limited,” Philipp said. “If it’s a civilian boat, like this freighter, what options would the U.S. Navy ship really have? You tell them to stop, you see they’re not stopping, you realize that they’re not going to stop, you realize they’re not changing course, and so then you’re the one who needs to make the change.”
With the Japanese coast guard investigating professional negligence, there is clearly something that went amiss, said Philipp. Reports of the container ship making a sharp turn shortly before the collision and conflicting reports on the two sides about the timing of the collision also raise questions.
Seven sailors died in the collision, asleep in their berths on the starboard side where the Fitzgerald was struck.
