Japan to probe warship-containership collision
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Thursday ordered a probe into the collision between a Korean feeder containership and a Japanese naval destroyer Wednesday that caused a ferocious explosion in the Kammon Straits between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Kyush.
Both ships were damaged and sustained fires after the incident, though the naval ship seemed to bear the worst of the accident, according to early reports and footage from Japanese news programs. The footage showed the naval vessel's bow destroyed.
The commercial ship, the 704-TEU Carina Star, is operated by Seoul-based Namsung Shipping, and was en route from Busan to Osaka. The Japanese vessel was the Kurama, a 5,200-ton naval escort ship with 300 crew aboard. Six crewmen aboard the naval vessel were injured while no one aboard the containership was harmed, international news outlets reported.
Japan to probe warship-containership collision