![\"uss](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/USS-Fitz-e1547390777202.jpg\")
The guided-missile destroyer Fitzgerald was heavily damaged during a 2017 collision with a merchant vessel. (Navy)<\/p>\nThe guided-missile destroyer Fitzgerald was heavily damaged during a 2017 collision with a merchant vessel. (Navy)<\/p>\n
By: Geoff Ziezulewicz
\nThe owners of a massive merchant vessel that collided with the warship Fitzgerald in 2017, drowning seven sailors, have agreed to pay the U.S. government nearly $27 million as part of a settlement agreement.<\/p>\nThe two-page deal, obtained by Navy Times, states that is it\u2019s governed by Japanese law.<\/p>\n
Both the Fitzgerald and the Philippine-flagged ACX Crystal were transiting busy sea lanes off Japan before the 1:30 a.m. collision on June 17, 2017, when the container vessel struck the guided-missile destroyer\u2019s starboard side.<\/p>\n
The agreement states that the owners, Olympic Steamship Company, S.A., Panama, will pay about 2.9 billion Japanese yen to the U.S. government to settle potential claims because of their role in the maritime disaster.<\/p>\n
That translates to roughly $26.7 million.<\/p>\n
As is common in these agreements, the settlement notes that the deal is not an admission of \u201cany liability, negligence, breach of duty, or wrongdoing\u201d by the parties.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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But in a November 2017 official account of the collision, a Navy report states during the 30 minutes before the crash, \u201cneither FITZGERALD nor CRYSTAL took such action to reduce the risk of collision until approximately one minute prior to the collision.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCollisions at sea are rare and the relative performance and fault of the vessels involved is an open admiralty law issue,\u201d that report states. \u201cThe Navy is not concerned about the mistakes made by CRYSTAL. Instead, the Navy is focused on the performance of its ships and what we could have done differently to avoid these mishaps.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The rest of the article may be viewed here: The Navy Times<\/a><\/p>\n
Tip of the old chapeau to Hondo for the link.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"