Chemical tanker, cargo ship crash near southwestern Japan

The Chinese crew told the coast guard the tanker had suddenly veered toward them, the official said.

Typical response from the Chinese side rather than letting the investigation occur. "Nope, not us. It was all their fault"

Typical response from the Chinese side rather than letting the investigation occur. "Nope, not us. It was all their fault"

Wow, not jaded too much are you? This is a part of the investigation and it's the "official" who is disseminating the information, not the crew.

Better the official keep his mouth shut rather than having folks like this jump to conclusions.

hard for me to imagine how two big ships with all their electronic gear can bang into one another, but..... very very good that the chemical-carrier was empty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shame, great diving place.

But what about US Navy ships? Blah, blah…sorry, couldn’t resist.

Clearly, if you can comprehend English, the Japanese ship collided with (that is to say, CRASHED INTO) the Chinese ship…that’s what this information states.

Can anyone explain why Japanese ships seem to crash more than most?

GPS hacking by ccp cyber-lapdogs.

They're already known for giving false GPS coordinates when sending their fishing fleets into other country's waters to steal the livelihood of native fisherman.

It is difficult to imagine how two large ships could collide like that.

I assume that the captains set a course, then go off to play cards and drink on a lower deck somewhere. Rely on some instruments for warnings that sometimes work. Lets face it, airline pilots drank heavily before and during flights for years before safety regulators forced changes. Kind of like what the US Navy was doing before their recent collisions.

So it’s not just US navy ships they crash in to! ;)

WA4TKG

Clearly, if you can comprehend English, the Japanese ship collided with (that is to say, CRASHED INTO) the Chinese ship…that’s what this information states.

Understand what you are saying but I wouldn’t rely on the precise and accurate use of English by journalists to convey the exact sequence of events in a few words. We will have to wait and see what the evidence shows.

I also would question the veracity of the Chinese crew, or either crew, but the official should not have revealed it as out of context of other less self interested evidence it may well be misleading. Rather unprofessional of them.

A lot of these ship crews are grossly incompetent, underpaid, understaffed and complacent. Many of these incidents are the result of not properly understanding maritime laws, piloting by assumption, or plain old asleep at the wheel.

Whether on land or sea, Chinese driving skills remain consistent.

From photos of the damage available on other websites, the Chinese ship was struck abeam the bridge on the starboard side. The photos clearly show the hull stove in on the starboard side right below the bridge wing.

In a crossing situation under international rules of the road assuming both ships are holding a constant course and speed, the ship to starboard (to the right looking forward, you know the pointy end, for all the landlubbers here) has the right of way. If these two ships were in a crossing situation each on a steady course and speed, which we do not know to be the case, the Chinese ship should have yielded the right of way to the Japanese ship (reduce speed, maybe turn to pass aft of the Japanese ship). However I have not yet found the AIS trace for either vessel to see if they made any sudden course changes that would affect which vessel was at fault. If the Japanese ship made a sudden turn and t-boned the Chinese ship then the Japanese ship would probably be found at fault. Stay tuned, I have more research to do.

Looks like maybe the Japanese ship was at fault.

https://maritime-executive.com/article/video-chemical-tanker-collides-with-freighter-off-japan