NORFOLK, Va., May 23 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy has released audio of conversations as the destroyer USS Porter collided with a Japanese tanker in the Gulf of Hormuz last year.
The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, Va., obtained the audio under a Freedom of Information Act request.
The audio and the Porter's log shows the vessel performing a risky maneuver, passing in front of another vessel's bow in the dark in one of the world's most crowded shipping lanes, the newspaper said Thursday. Just after it finished the maneuver, a watchstander discovered a second huge tanker just behind the first one.
The Porter was struck by the Otowasan, a Japanese supertanker. No one was seriously hurt on either ship.
Within weeks of the collision, the Porter's captain, Cmdr. Martin Arriola, was relieved of command.
The Porter underwent emergency repairs in the United Arab Emirates, costing the Navy $2 million. It is currently in its homeport of Norfolk awaiting further work at a private shipyard.
