Early Saturday morning a Philippine-flagged merchant ship collided into the side of a U.S. warship off the coast of Japan. The crash caused several parts of the American ship, the USS Fitzgerald, to flood. On Sunday, seven sailors who went missing after the crash were found dead in the flooded compartments. Now people are asking questions, as it was revealed it took the Filipino ship an hour to alert the Japanese coastguard.

Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin spoke to reporters at Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan on Sunday. He said considering the damage that was done to the ship, many more people could have died. “There was a big puncture, a big gash underneath the waterline,” Aucoin said, adding that the flooding was “tremendous.” No one knows what caused the crash and there are multiple investigations underway.

On Monday, a spokesperson for the Japanese coastguard, Takeshi Aikawa, said that the collision happened at 1:30 a.m. But the Philippine-flagged container ship, named the ACX Crystal, didn’t alert Japanese authorities until at 2:25 a.m. Data from the ACX Crystal also shows that for some reason, the ship made a U-turn sometime between 12:58 a.m. and 2:46 a.m. Three U.S. crew members were injured, including Cmdr. Bryce Benson, who was in charge of the ship.

#USSFitzgerald listing after collision at about 3amJST with PH flagged container ship near Japan. (COR) Photo via NHK Helicopter pic.twitter.com/rSTVmE4Atw

— Robert Speta (@robertspeta) June 16, 2017

Japanese officials said they are conducting two separate investigations, one of which is for “endangerment of traffic caused by professional negligence.” It was unclear whether that applied to the U.S. ship or the Filipino one. The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard also opened an investigation.

U.S. Navy confirms all 7 missing sailors from USS Fitzgerald found dead https://t.co/amOOEjsg7h pic.twitter.com/NTQCetvr2E

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) June 19, 2017

No one seems to understand how the Fitzgerald, one of the most technologically advanced warships in the world, could be involved in an accident like this. The damage indicates that the Fitzgerald was hit on its right side, while the Crystal was damaged on its left side, suggesting they were traveling in the same direction. Most of the crew on the Fitzgerald was asleep when the collision occurred and big container ships like the Crystal are often lightly crewed and use an autopilot.

There is also the question why the Crystal made a sudden U-turn right before the accident. Acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley said the Navy is determined to get to the bottom of things. “In due time, the United States Navy will fully investigate the cause of this tragedy,” he said.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post More Questions than Answers as Investigations into USS Fitzgerald Crash Begin appeared first on Law Street.

On Friday, the Pentagon demanded the return of a U.S. underwater drone that a Chinese Navy ship grabbed from the South China Sea on Thursday. The American ship USNS Bowditch had deployed the drone to do research. Staff onboard the American survey ship had noticed that the Chinese ship had been following them for days by the time they fished the $150,000 drone out of the water. The U.S. staff then tried to call the Chinese via radio, but got no answer.

The incident occurred about 40 miles off the coast of the Philippines. It is unknown why China would simply steal the American research drone from the water. It was used to collect oceanographic data, and map the sea floor, water salinity, and temperature. As the purpose was biological research, the crew is made up of civilian mariners and scientists. It didn’t contain any sensitive information and was part of an unclassified program, said Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis. He added:

The UUV [unmanned underwater vehicle] was lawfully conducting a military survey in the waters of the South China Sea. It’s a sovereign immune vessel, clearly marked in English not to be removed from the water–that it was US property.

China seized U.S. Navy Ocean Glider Unmanned Underwater Vehicle ~50nm Subic Bay https://t.co/UxbYQmJ0jY

— M. Taylor Fravel (@fravel) December 16, 2016

On Friday the Pentagon issued a formal protest to China, demanding the return of the drone. Officials said that they were trying to determine whether this was a spontaneous decision by the Chinese seamen that spotted the drone, or a deliberate strategy from senior Chinese leaders. This is likely to further complicate the relationship between the U.S. and China. There are also concerns that the seizure could be related to Donald Trump’s phone call with Taiwan earlier this month.

In the beginning of December, Trump spoke on the phone with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, which marked a reversal of the customary U.S. stance on Taiwan. The island wants to be independent from China, while China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province. So normally, the U.S. sells weapons and other items to Taiwan, but doesn’t do much more. That phone call didn’t exactly please Chinese leaders. Then on Thursday, an American think tank declared that China has been building weapons like anti-missile and anti-aircraft systems on its man-made islands, despite earlier claims that the islands are exclusively for civilian use. As Trump takes office, it will be interesting to see how the American-Chinese relationship changes.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Pentagon to China: Please Return Our Underwater Drone appeared first on Law Street.

As a result of yet another incident involving U.S. military personnel harming Japanese civilians, the Navy announced on Monday a complete ban of alcohol on or off bases for American sailors stationed in Japan. The ban does not affect all soldiers who are stationed on the island, only those in the Navy. There are roughly 50,000 total U.S. military personnel in Japan, 18,600 of whom are sailors.

On Saturday, Petty Officer Second Class Aimee Mejia, 21, drove her car into oncoming traffic on a highway outside the Kadena Air Base in southern Okinawa. She crashed into two cars, injuring both drivers: a 30-year-old man and a 35-year-old woman. Mejia is in Kadena Police custody and has yet to be charged for the incident. According to the officers involved in the arrest, Mejia’s blood alcohol level was six times the legal limit.

Prior to Monday’s announcement, all U.S. military personnel–soldiers included–were restricted from consuming alcohol off base, in observance of a 30-day mourning period for the murder of a Japanese woman by a U.S. military civil contractor (and former Marine) in Okinawa a few weeks ago. Monday’s amendment restricts alcohol both on and off base. It also confines sailors to their homes or bases unless they are required to perform “essential” duties. No timetable for the new rules has been provided, but a press release said the ban will continue until “all personnel understand the impact of responsible behavior on the U.S.-Japan alliance.”

“We deeply regret this incident and express our heartfelt sympathies for the accident victims and their families,” said Lt. Gen. John L. Dolan, commander of U.S. forces in Japan.

The U.S.-Japan alliance has been fraught with contradictory episodes over the past few months, both testing and affirming America’s commitment to its strong partnership with Japan. On May 27, Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, the tragic site where tens of thousands of Japanese were annihilated by the world’s first nuclear bomb in 1945. That historic trip was made amid deepening mistrust between civilians and military personnel on Japan’s southernmost prefectural island, Okinawa, where the majority of the U.S. military presence in Japan is located.

The U.S. presence on the island–nearly a quarter of Okinawa’s land is covered by a U.S. military site–has been a contentious issue since America occupied the island in 1972. Tensions have been renewed in recent months: An American sailor raped a 40-year-old woman at her hotel in Naha, the island’s largest city, in March. In May, a former Marine and civil contractor was charged with the rape and murder of a 20-year-old woman.

Following the latest incident, Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met with U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, imploring her to widen the scope of discipline on U.S. military personnel to ensure such incidents don’t happen again. In a press release on Monday, Rear Admiral Matthew Carter, commander of U.S. naval forces in Japan, offered his condolences and stressed the importance of the U.S.-Japan bond:

“For decades we have enjoyed a strong relationship with the people of Japan. It is imperative that each sailor understand how our actions affect that relationship and the U.S. Japan alliance as a whole.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Following Latest Incident, Navy Bans Alcohol For U.S. Sailors In Japan appeared first on Law Street.