USA and Japanese forces joined in air-and-sea search missions Saturday for seven American sailors missing after their Navy destroyer and a much-larger container ship collided off the coast of Japan.
The Fitzgerald was still under its own power "although her propulsion was limited", the Navy said.
The incident took place some 56 nautical miles (104km) south-west of the Japanese port city of Yokosuka, at about 02:30 local time on Saturday (17:30 GMT Friday).
The Philippine-registered container ship ACX Crystal is seen in the waters off Izu Peninsula, southwest of Tokyo, after it had collided with the USS Fitzgerald.
The 7th Fleet commander, Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, thanked the Japanese coast guard in a post on the fleet's Facebook page, adding: "We are committed to ensuring the safe return of the ship to port in Yokosuka".
Footage from the Japanese TV network NHK showed navy crew members working to pump water from flooded sections of the crushed mid-right side of the USS Fitzgerald. "Now that the ship is in Yokosuka, I ask that you help the families by maintaining their privacy as we continue the search for our shipmates".
The names of the missing sailors were being withheld pending notification of their families. U.S.
Trump tweeted Saturday morning Washington time: "Thoughts and prayers with the sailors of USS Fitzgerald and their families".
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald, damaged by colliding with a Philippine-flagged merchant vessel, is towed into the USA naval base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Japan June 17, 2017. Bryce Benson, was injured and transported by helicopter to the U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka and is reportedly in stable condition, officials said.
The Philippine-flagged container ship was berthed at Tokyo's Oi wharf, where officials began questioning crew members about the cause of the nighttime crash.
Three crew members, including the ship's commanding officer, Cmdr. "We thank our Japanese partners for their assistance".
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Twenty crew members were aboard the container and no one was injured, another Japanese coastguard spokesman said, adding that the vessel was separately sailing back to a Tokyo port.
Forces overnight intensified their search for the missing sailors and tried to get a handle on the cause of a crash in a busy maritime zone crossed daily by 400 to 500 ships.
Marine traffic records suggest the ACX Crystal made a sudden U-turn roughly 25 minutes before the collision with the USS Fitzgerald.
A spokesman for the USA 7th Fleet said the ship was heading back to Yokosuka under its own power at three knots.
Two other crew members suffered cuts and bruises and were evacuated.
The Philippine ship is 29,060 tons and is 222 metres long, the coastguard said, much larger than the 8,315-ton naval destroyer.
Tom Dyer, a naval expert who spoke to Wired, says it's likely that both the U.S Navy vessel and the container ship carried radar-based collision avoidance systems.
A United States defence official told AFP that "sailors are de-watering" flooded areas of the ship.
"So anxious. Just need to hear she is OK".
The destroyer suffered severe damage to its starboard side, while the container ship sustained light damage.
U.S. Naval Forces Japan said an emergency family assistance center was established and families had phone numbers they could call for more information.
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