Saturday morning; STUPID QUESTION OF THE DAY

As vast as the oceans of the world are; how is it possible that two gigantic ship can collide?

All ships are quipped with radar, there was no fog, visibility for someone that is 100 feet up should be-able to see about 12.5 miles with the naked eye, the Pacific Ocean covers a total of 63,800,000 sq miles and yet with all of that space in which to navigate the two ships collided.  There had to be at least 30 minutes or longer for the Navy captain to make the correct decision.  Was he sleeping at the wheel?

By all appearances it was the US Navy’s fault the accident occurred.  Just like driving a car on the streets, there are courtesies of the water ways that should be observed and were not.  Rule of maritime allows the bigger of the ships in question to the right-of-way and the Fitzgerald was the smaller of the two.

In this photo released by Japan’s coast guard, the damage to Philippine container ship ACX Crystal is seen after it had collided with the USS Fitzgerald in the waters off Izu Peninsula. It looks like it suffered minor damage.

Being broadsided by something this big and pointed is what caused such severe damage to the Fitzgerald.

Seven US sailors are missing and the commanding officer of the destroyer is among the injured.

Was it a game of CHICKEN to see which vessel would capitulate, poor judgment on the Navy captain’s part? I find it hard to believe that this collision was not avoidable.