A US warship has sustained minor damage after a collision with a Japanese tug off central Japan, the US Navy says.
The commercial tug lost propulsion and drifted into the guided-missile destroyer, the USS Benfold, during a towing exercise in Sagami Bay.
“No-one was injured on either vessel,” the US Navy says, adding that an investigation is under way.
This is the latest in a series of incidents involving US warships in recent months.
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In a statement, the US Navy says the warship “sustained minimal damage, including scrapes on its side”.
MT @US7thFleet: A Japanese tug lost propulsion and drifted into #USSBenfold during a towing exercise. No one was injured on either vessel and DDG-65 remains at sea under its own power – https://t.co/fHpWl9GUot (File photo) pic.twitter.com/3BXG9H1uxb
— U.S. Navy (@USNavy) November 18, 2017
“Benfold remains at sea under her own power. The Japanese commercial tug is being towed by another vessel to a port in Yokosuka.”
In August, 10 US sailors were killed when the USS John S McCain and an oil tanker collided east of Singapore.
In June, seven US sailors died in a collision between the USS Fitzgerald and a container ship in Japanese waters near the port city of Yokosuka.
In May, a guided-missile cruiser and a South Korean fishing vessel collided, while in January another cruiser ran aground near the fleet base in Yokosuka.
The US has recently announced a series of reforms aimed at increasing naval skills and alertness at sea.
