The Nation : Missile Kills Merchant Ship’s Crewman

A crewman aboard an Indian merchant ship was killed when the ship was struck by a practice missile launched from a Navy jet during a military exercise, northwest of the island of Kauai, the Navy announced. The non-explosive missile was fired at a target hulk ship, but its guidance system locked onto the merchant vessel Jagvivek, which was not supposed to be within the Navy’s Pacific Missile range, the Navy said. The missile hit the ship’s topside superstructure, fatally injuring the crew member. The accident took place within an area of several thousand square miles of ocean which had been closed to merchant vessels by a notice to mariners issued by the Navy.