The USS Antietam ran around in Tokyo Bay on Tuesday, damaging its propellers and reportedly leaking more than a thousand gallons of hydraulic oil into the water.
The Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser, part of the U.S. Navy's permanent rotation of forces deployed in the Pacific, will likely require extensive repairs in dry dock, said the U.S. Naval Institute News.
The ship was towed by tugs to the Navy's base in Yokosuka, Japan.
Officials said one of two propeller hubs was damaged and the ship leaked an estimated 1,100 of oil. The Japan Coast Guard, though, had not been able to find any floating oil since being notified of the accident Tuesday afternoon, a Navy spokesman said on Wednesday, according to Stars and Stripes.
"The ship has two reversible controllable pitch propellers and right now the estimates that have been provided so far indicate the propellers are heavily damaged to a point where they are not functional," a Navy official told USNI News Wednesday.
The Antietam was anchoring in Tokyo Bay near Yokosuka before running aground, said CNN, and no injuries were reported.
The Navy Times said U.S. officials contacted the Japanese government about the oil spill.
"The Navy is cooperating with the government of Japan and local Japanese Coast Guard in response to this issue and is exhausting all options to minimize impacts to the environment," said Kyoko Sugita, a U.S. Navy representative.
Ticonderoga-class cruisers like the Antietam are multi-role warships capable of conducting operations ranging from anti-submarine warfare to anti-ballistic missile defense, noted the broadcaster.
The USS Antietam is among 13 ships that use Yokosuka as its home port, and one of at least seven equipped for intercepting ballistic missiles, said Stars and Stripes. Such ships would be a critical part of defense if North Korea ever launched ballistic missiles at the U.S. or an ally.
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