Atago duty officer likely to face charges of professional negligence

The Japan Coast Guard plans to seek charges of professional negligence resulting in death against the duty officer of a destroyer that rammed a fishing boat in February, sources said.

The Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Atago collided Feb. 19 with the Seitoku Maru off Boso Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture, leaving two fishermen lost at sea.

The 3rd Regional Coast Guard Headquarters, based in Yokohama, will send papers to prosecutors shortly on the lieutenant commander who was on watch during the incident.

The duty officer--the most senior officer in command at the time--is suspected of failing to instruct other crew members to keep watch on a fishing fleet that had been spotted earlier, according to the sources.

The 7,750-ton Aegis destroyer rammed the 7-ton fishing boat, which broke apart and sank. Part of the boat was retrieved, but the two men aboard, Haruo Kichisei, 58, and his son Tetsuhiro, 23, were never found.

The coast guard has so far been investigating on suspicion of professional negligence endangering sea traffic.

In a maritime accident, however, missing people can be declared dead after three months--May 19 for the two men. After they are declared dead, the coast guard may seek charges of negligence resulting in death in the case, the sources said.

The 3rd regional headquarters believes the Atago crew members were primarily responsible for preventing a collision.

When a vessel crosses in front of another ship, the law for preventing collisions at sea in principle requires the ship that sees the other on its starboard side to take evasive action.

Analysis of the Atago's navigation records showed the destroyer's bow hit the port side of the Seitoku Maru, which was to cross the Atago's course from right to left.

But Atago crew members testified it was not until a minute before the collision that the destroyer, aware of the danger, reversed at full speed in an attempt to avoid the collision.

The coast guard suspects the duty officer, who was Atago's torpedo officer, failed to give instructions for continued watch and to take evasive action until just before the collision, according to the sources.

The 3rd regional headquarters is also cautiously investigating whether the Seitoku Maru crew were negligent, the sources said.

Meanwhile, the Yokohama Marine Accident Investigators' Office is finishing up its investigation before formally seeking an inquiry into the Atago duty officer and other crew members, including Capt. Ken Funato, the Atago's skipper.

Funato was on a sleep break at the time of the collision, leaving the duty officer in command of the ship.(IHT/Asahi: May 16,2008)