The US Navy said on Friday one of its destroyers collided with a merchant vessel southwest of Yokosuka, Japan, and a US official said initial reports indicated multiple injuries aboard the destroyer.
The fleet said the USS Dewey, medical assistance and two Navy tugs were being dispatched as quickly as possible and that Naval aircraft were being readied to help.
The first, Cmdr. Bryce Benson, was taken to the U.S. Naval Hospital in Yokosuka and was in stable condition, the U.S. 7th Fleet said in a statement. A second MEDEVAC is in progress. The other two were being treated for lacerations and bruises, while other injured were being assessed aboard the ship, it said.
Seven sailors are still unaccounted for.
There have been injuries reported on the USA ship, and one sailor is being medevaced via helicopter in coordination with the Japanese Coast Guard.
According to the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet, the USS Fitzgerald collided with the Philippine-flagged merchant vessel ACX Crystal, a 30,000-ton cargo ship.
"The USS Fitzgerald suffered damage on her starboard side above and below the waterline".
In a statement released on Twitter, US chief of naval operations Admiral John Richardson said: "As more information is learned we will be sure to share it with the Fitzgerald families and when appropriate the public".
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More patrol vessels and a helicopter would be dispatched to the collision site, Japan's coastguard said. It said another injured person was being evacuated but gave no further details on the crew's injuries.
The official said emergency procedures have been put in place and the ship is not in danger of sinking at this time. At around 29,000 tons displacement, the ship dwarfs the 8,315-ton USA warship, and was carrying 1,080 containers from the port of Nagoya to Tokyo. William Clinton, a spokesman for the 7th Fleet, told ABC News.
The Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald on patrol in the Pacific Ocean on September 8, 2014.
The ship arrived at Tokyo Bay around 5:00 p.m. (0800 GMT), sailing under its own power, the Coast Guard said.
Under worldwide regulations on preventing collisions at sea, when two vessels are in a crossing situation, a ship must give way to the vessel to starboard.
Medical evacuations reportedly occurred with assistance from the Japanese Coast Guard.
Nippon Yusen K.K., the Japanese shipping company that operates the container ship that collided with a U.S. Navy destroyer, says its 20-member crew all safe.
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