Officials identified the merchant vessel as the Philippine-flagged ACX Crystal. The ship is 29,060 tons and 730 feet long, according to MarineTraffic.com. Destroyers like the Fitzgerald are roughly 8,230 tons and 505 feet long.
ACX Crystal’s automatic tracking system shows the ship steaming east at about 21 mph before slowing down slightly and abruptly circling back west, according to public data shown on MarineTrafffic.com.
The data shows the ship returning full circle to a previous point at about the time of the reported incident. The ship then travels at about 4 mph shortly afterward before returning to full speed and heading toward Tokyo Bay.
While the path appears unusual compared to other ships in the area at the time, which did not deviate from relatively straight courses.
The Fitzgerald is forward deployed to Yokosuka as part of the USS Ronald Reagan Strike Group. It took part in training near the Korean Peninsula last month involving ships from both the Reagan and USS Carl Vinson strike groups and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
The destroyer received $21 million in upgrades and repairs in February.
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The ACX Crystal, shown here on a satellite map at about 10:30 on June 17, 2017, was reportedly involved in a collision with the destroyer USS Fitzgerald during early morning hours. Marine traffic heading out of Tokyo Bay is normally heavy.
SCREENSHOT VIA MARINETRAFFIC.COM