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The Australian Broadcasting Corporation is reporting the head of Japan’s Navy (a civilian)  has been removed in the wake of the sinking of a fishing vessel by an Aegis Class Destroyer last month.  This news comes after the Admiral in charge of Japan’s Maritime Self Defense was removed.

The original gCaptain post is here.

The ABC post is here.

The bow and stern parts of the Seitoku Maru fishing boat are lifted onto the deck of a salvage barge Wednesday off Tateyama in Chiba Prefecture. Two fishermen from the boat were still missing on Wednesday. (TSUYOSHI TAKEDA/ THE ASAHI SHIMBUN)

A number of sources are beginning to flush out the circumstances surrounding the collision between the Japanese Aegis class Destroyer Agato, and the fishing vessel Seitoku Maru. The collision took place about 04:00. The two fisherman aboard Seitoku Maru are missing.

Here’s an excerpt from The Daily Yomiuri:

“Before the accident, a crew member went out on deck in readiness to replace the crew member on duty, taking a lookout position at about 3:45 a.m. to get used to the dark. The relieving crew member spotted a red light on a fishing boat ahead of the destroyer to the right. The crew member continued surveillance, but it is likely that the member failed to tell the radar crew or other crew members about the sighting. Having just taken over lookout duty, the relieving crew member may have incorrectly assumed that the crew member who had just been relieved of duty already knew about the light, thereby failing to recognize the importance of this information.”

While news sources do not refer to Bridge Resource Management issues, it is apparent that the collision developed around the 04:00 change of watch.

Google news links on the Destroyer Agato collision can be found here.

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.

A short follow up to yesterday’s post: 72 ColRegs and a Japanese Destroyer

Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba has decided to dismiss Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) Chief of Staff Eiji Yoshikawa over failure to report a ship collision in time on Tuesday, Japanese media reported Friday. Yoshikawa waited ninety minutes to inform higher ups.

The full report is at ChinaView.cn

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.

Last Tuesday, at about 04:00 Agato, a 170 meter, a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force Aegis destroyer and the fishing vessel Seitoku Maru collided about 28 km off Tokyo.

The bow of the Seitoku Maru floats off Nojimazaki, Chiba Prefecture, on Tuesday after the fishing boat was split in two in a collison with the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Atago destroyer. (THE ASAHI SHIMBUN)

What is know about the incident is: [Continue Reading →]