Container Ship Collides With Japanese Destroyer

A Japanese navy destroyer collided with a container ship operated by South Korea’s Namsung Shipping south of Japan on Tuesday, causing a fire and injuring three of the military vessel’s crewmembers.

Reports in Tokyo identified the freighter as the 7,401-ton Carina Star, a regional container ship that was on its way to Osaka from Busan, South Korea.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the collision, which happened at night as the ships passed under a bridge on the Kammon Strait in Southern Japan.

All three injuries were minor and came aboard the naval vessel, which photographs from the scene showed took the greatest damage. The container vessel suffered a hole in its hull, authorities said, while the bow of the 5,200-ton destroyer Kurama appeared to have been crushed and heavily damaged by fire.

The bow of the military ship burst into flames on the collision. All sea traffic in the region was halted for four hours while the fire was extinguished and the ships moved away.

None of the 16 crewmembers aboard the Namsung vessel was injured, according to news reports in Japan.