Japanese tug boat scrapes U.S. Navy ship during exercise

The 7th Fleet has had two fatal accidents in Asian waters this year

Yes but this incident hardly qualifies to be put into the same league. Minor contact damage, get out the paint.

Now a tugboat? Can the Navy get any lamer?

A tugboat is suppose to touch and push larger boats.

CrazyJoe, the tug lost propulsion and drifted into the Naval ship. Not the other way around. Please reread the article.

Someone give some seamen some sandpaper and some paint. It will look as good as new in nothing flat!

Another later media report says a rope wound around the propeller making it inoperable. I wonder which ship mishandled the rope?

A tugboat is suppose to touch and push larger boats.

True, but only at the clear target "sweet spots" when it's operational. The "tug" in question was under tow and lost it's rigging tie

True, but only at the clear target "sweet spots" when it's operational. The "tug" in question was under tow and lost it's rigging tie

Did the rigging tie come away at the tugboat end or the USS Benfold end?

They just decided to play dodgems with their ships :)

On the evidence presented (such as it is) not on the scale of the previous 2, possibly unavoidable once the tug lost power.

too funny.. whats next, fishing boat sinks us warship?

Yes but this incident hardly qualifies to be put into the same league. Minor contact damage, get out the paint.

Spot on. Those who are more acquainted will understand that these things are NOT uncommon at all!!! Tugboats keep giving dents and scrapes to ships all the time. Nothing against JT for publishing, though. Possibly the navy pushed this article out to reinforce the fact that here’s a situation where the naval ship wasn’t to blame.

US naval ship is always to blame,they have no business here

Alex einz: when all the old men with no care about eh future want war with nK, telling the public to “prepare for nuclear war”, the US most certainly DOES have business was here. You can thank them for it later.

Hopefully they learn from all these collisions! I wonder if they are being remotely hacked as well?

It would appear to me that there were no collisions for years and then now 3 or 4 in a few months

Pretty much a non-story.

US naval ship is always to blame,they have no business here yes they do have business here, theyre here at the invitation of the J gov, the same government that was recently voted into power again by the J people. Damn democracy can be a biatch at times!

nope they aint, they impose themselves on the j gov.. nobody invited them here

Guess it makes a change from the Americans doing it to themselves.

This is the fifth such incident to take place this year, two of which have been fatal.

if they are not here, it wouldn’t happen.

too funny.. whats next, fishing boat sinks us warship? no they do that all by themselves, hasnt been a year gone by without an overturned fishing boat and crew dead or missing, whats next ban fishing boats!?

funny thing is if it was a container ship that was scratched it wouldn't have even made the news, welcome to "Japan Witch Hunt News"

Yes but this incident hardly qualifies to be put into the same league. Minor contact damage, get out the paint.

Its not about the tugboat, but about what actions the destroyer took when they realized the tugboat was about to hit them, this is what the navy should investigate. This time the navy got lucky with the tugboat, it could have been a supertanker with failed propulsion.

 when they realized the tugboat was about to hit them

Reports indicate the tugboat was stationary, immobilized, dead in the water.

There's not enough information here, or in the brief Navy statement, to reach an informed judgment about what happened.

wtfjapan , fishing boats are actually useful unlike muricas army. next in news : muricas warboat sinks after hittin a canoe .

mrtinjpNov. 19 03:54 pm JSTYes but this incident hardly qualifies to be put into the same league. Minor contact damage, get out the paint.

Its not about the tugboat, but about what actions the destroyer took when they realized the tugboat was about to hit them, this is what the navy should investigate. This time the navy got lucky with the tugboat, it could have been a supertanker with failed propulsion.

If the tug lost power and collided with the Benfold, depending on the distance and time involved, which from this article appears to be very little, there is not much the Destroyer can do. The tug was conducting a towing exercise, meaning it was already in very close proximity to the Benfold. It lost power and DRIFTED into the vessel it was towing. Not the same as another vessel approaching at a distance under power and taking the proper precautionary actions.

he should get life in prison as any drunk drivers should be getting.

This seems to be a story about nothing. The only reason it is in the news is because it involved a US Navy vessel. As for assigning blame ... it should be though of a a learning situation and lessons learned. If someone was at fault that extra training should remedy the situation.

Its not about the tugboat, but about what actions the destroyer took when they realized the tugboat was about to hit them, this is what the navy should investigate. This time the navy got lucky with the tugboat, it could have been a supertanker with failed propulsion.

It's a Navy destroyer, not a sports car. What do you think they were going to do when they noticed a tiny tug boat about to bump into them, pull the e-brake? Oh, I know! They should have dropped the anchor and Tokyo-drifted around the tug like they did in the movie 'Battleship'. Sheesh.