The Japan... (Associated Press) 
 
 YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) — U.S. and Japanese vessels and aircraft were searching Saturday for seven American sailors who were missing after their Navy destroyer collided before dawn with a container ship four times its size off the coast of Japan. "The collision affected Fitzgerald's forward starboard side above and below the water line, causing significant damage and associated flooding to two berthing spaces, a machinery space, and the radio room," according to a statement from US 7th Fleet. Water was being pumped out of flooded areas and it was unclear how long it would take to get into the crushed mid-right side of the ship once it was at the pier in Yokosuka, the statement said. The two ships collided around 1:30 a.m. local time Saturday in the Pacific Ocean, about 56 nautical miles southwest from the port of Yokosuka and 12 miles off the Izu Peninsula, the Japanese coast guard said. The USS Fitzgerald was back at its home port in Yokosuka Naval Base south of Tokyo by sunset Saturday, its crew lined up on deck. It was questioning crew members of the ACX Crystal, which is operated by the Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen K.K., and was treating the incident as a case of possible professional negligence, said Masayuki Obara, a regional coast guard official. Bryce Benson, was evacuated by a Japanese naval helicopter while US military copters evacuated two injured US sailors. Naval Hospital in Yokosuka and was in stable condition with a head injury, the Navy said. Five Japanese Maritime Self Defense force ships were leading the search for the missing US sailors at the site of the collision, joined by another US warship, the guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey, the 7th Fleet said. No one aboard the Crystal was hurt, and no oil spilled from the vessel, NYK said. The container ship's left bow was dented and scraped, but it did not appear to have sustained any major structural damage. Damage to the Philippine container ship ACX Crystal is seen after it collided with the USS Fitzgerald in the waters off Izu Peninsula, this photo released by Japan's coast guard shows. Conditions were clear at the time of the collision, though Yutaka Saito of the coast guard said the area is particularly busy with sea traffic. The ACX Crystal weighs 29,060 tons and is 222 meters (730 feet) long, the coast guard said, much larger than the 8,315-ton Navy destroyer. An injured USS Fitzgerald crew member is carried by US military personnel, left, and Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force members upon arriving Saturday to the US Naval Base in Yokosuka Japan. The USS Fitzgerald's captain, Cmdr.
– US and Japanese vessels and aircraft are searching for seven American sailors who are missing after their Navy destroyer collided before dawn with a container ship four times its size off the coast of Japan. The USS Fitzgerald was back at its home port in Yokosuka Naval Base south of Tokyo by sunset Saturday, following the crash at 2:20am local time. The USS Fitzgerald's captain, Cmdr. Bryce Benson, was airlifted early Saturday to the US Naval Hospital in Yokosuka and was in stable condition with a head injury; two other crew members suffered cuts and bruises and were evacuated, reports the AP. The US 7th Fleet said in a statement that the crash damaged two berthing spaces, a machinery room, and the radio room, and CNN says its statement suggests the missing could be in the ship's crushed mid-right side. "It remains uncertain how long it will take to gain access to the spaces once the ship is pier side ... to methodically continue the search for the missing," the statement said. Most of the more than 200 sailors aboard would have been asleep in their berths at the time of the pre-dawn crash. The Navy said that the collision occurred 56 nautical miles southwest of Yokosuka, home to the 7th Fleet. The ACX Crystal weighs 29,060 tons, making it much larger than the 8,315-ton Navy destroyer. The container ship's left bow was dented and scraped, but it did not appear to have sustained any major structural damage. The Philippine-flagged container ship was berthed at Tokyo's Oi wharf, where officials began questioning crew members about the cause of the crash and are treating the incident as a case of possible professional negligence.