TOKYO — A U.S. submarine and Japanese merchant ship collided in the Arabian Sea, the U.S. Navy and Japan’s Kyodo News agency said Tuesday. No one was seriously injured.
The Navy said the accident occurred late Monday night local time and that neither vessel reported any injuries or serious damage. Kyodo said U.S. officials passed the information on the collision to Japan’s Foreign Ministry shortly after 4 a.m. Tuesday.
The Japanese government received word of a crash from the U.S. side but was still investigating details, including the nationality of the vessels involved, said Naoki Kumagai, deputy director of the U.S. security division at Japan’s Foreign Ministry.
Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K., a Japanese oil company, said the ship involved is the tanker Mogamigawa operated by Kawasaki Kisen Ltd., according to Kyodo.
Officials at Japan’s Defense Ministry were not immediately able to confirm the report, and spokespeople for the companies believed to be involved were not available for comment.
"Note: I’ll never understand how one of the most technically advanced pieces of machinery in the world, with the best electronics and sensor arrays can fail to detect and then collide with a tanker. ~Patriot"
As an ex-sailor that did navigation and tactical maneuvering, I can tell you that even though they have sensors, and machinery to detect that stuff, humans are still driving the boat and sometimes make mistakes.