Seven Missing, Three Injured in US Navy Collision

Seven crew members are missing and at least three injured after a US Navy destroyer collided early on Saturday morning with a Philippine-flagged merchant vessel south of Tokyo Bay in Japan, the US Navy said. Media reported that the Japanese coast guard said the US ship was experiencing some flooding but was not in danger of sinking, while the merchant vessel was able to sail under its own power. Three aboard the destroyer had been medically evacuated, including the ship’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Bryce Benson, who was reportedly in stable condition after being airlifted to the US Naval Hospital in Yokosuka. The waterways approaching Tokyo Bay are busy with commercial vessels sailing to and from Japan’s two biggest container ports in Tokyo and Yokohama. The USS Dewey and two Navy tugboats had been dispatched to provide assistance, the Navy said.