Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, right, Commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet, speaks during a press conference near the damaged USS Fitzgerald, rear, at the U.S. Naval base in Yokosuka, southwest of Tokyo Sunday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) — The search for seven U.S. Navy sailors missing after their destroyer collided with a container ship off Japan was called off Sunday after several bodies were found in the ship's flooded compartments, including sleeping quarters. 
 
 Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, the commander of the Navy's 7th Fleet, described the damage and flooding as extensive, including a big puncture under the waterline. The crew had to fight to keep the ship afloat, he said, and the ship's captain is lucky to have survived. 
 
 "The damage was significant, this was not a small collision," he said. 
 
 Navy divers found "a number of" bodies in the ship Sunday, a day after it returned to the 7th Fleet's home base in Yokosuka, Japan, with the help of tug boats. Aucoin, speaking at a news conference at the base, wouldn't say how many bodies were recovered, pending notification of next of kin. 
 
 He said much of the crew of about 300 was asleep when the collision happened at 2:20 a.m. Saturday, and that one machinery room and two berthing areas for 116 crew members were severely damaged. 
 
 "You can't see most of the damage, the damage is mostly underneath the waterline, and it's a large gash near the keel of the ship," he said. "So the water flow was tremendous, and so there wasn't a lot of time in those spaces that were open to the sea. And as you can see now the ship is still listing, so they had to fight the ship to keep it above the surface. It was traumatic." 
 
 The Fitzgerald's captain, Cmdr. Bryce Benson, was airlifted from the ship's deck after daybreak Saturday to the U.S. Naval Hospital in Yokosuka with a head injury. Two other crew members suffered cuts and bruises and were also flown out by helicopter. 
 
 "His cabin was destroyed, he is lucky to be alive," Aucoin said of Benson. 
 
 The container ship ACX Crystal weighs 29,060 tons and is 222 meters (730 feet) long, much larger than the 8,315-ton Navy destroyer. The container ship's left bow was dented and scraped, but it did not appear to have sustained any major structural damage. 
 
 All of the ACX Crystal's 20-member Filipino crew were safe, said Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen K.K., which operates the Philippine-flagged ship. 
 
 The Japanese coast guard questioned crew members of the ACX Crystal, and is treating the incident as a case of possible professional negligence, said Masayuki Obara, a regional coast guard official. 
 
 Conditions were clear at the time of the collision, though the area is particularly busy with sea traffic. 
 
 The victims might have been killed by the impact of the crash or drowned in the flooding, said Navy spokesman Lt. Paul Newell, who led news media on a visit to get a first-hand look at the mangled vessel. 
 
 Aucoin wouldn't speculate on the cause of the collision. He said he would order a full and thorough investigation. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption USS Fitzgerald damaged by the crash 
 
 Sailors missing after the USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship off Japan have been found dead, the US Navy and Japanese media says. 
 
 Seven sailors were left missing and three injured after Saturday's collision, which the US Navy said almost sank the destroyer. 
 
 The US Navy said rescue workers found the bodies on Sunday after gaining access to damaged parts of the ship. 
 
 It said they will be taken to a Japanese hospital to be identified. 
 
 The incident reportedly took place some 56 nautical miles (104km) south-west of the Japanese port city of Yokosuka, at about 02:30 local time on Saturday (17:30 GMT Friday). 
 
 Japanese broadcaster NHK said the collision led to the flooding of the crew's sleeping quarters while they were asleep. 
 
 USS Fitzgerald crash: In pictures 
 
 "The damage was significant," 7th Fleet commander Vice-Admiral Joseph P Aucoin said. "There was a big gash under the water." Repairs would take some time to complete, he said. 
 
 At a press conference in Japan on Sunday, Vice Adm Aucoin would not confirm how many remains had been found so far. Families of the sailors are being notified, he said. 
 
 "This loss is something we all feel," he said. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption The collision left a huge gash down the right-hand side of the ship 
 
 Marine traffic records suggest the ACX Crystal, a 222-metre (730ft) Filipino-flagged container ship, made a sudden U-turn roughly 25 minutes before the crash. It is not known why it changed course. 
 
 Similar records for the USS Fitzgerald are not publicly available. 
 
 The Navy ship's starboard side was heavily damaged in the collision, but the vessel later managed to slowly return to its base in Yokosuka, with the assistance of US navy tug boats. 
 
 Image copyright MarineTraffic.com Image caption The ACX Crystal appeared to make a U-turn before the collision, before rapidly adjusting course and setting off to Tokyo 
 
 Japan's coastguard said the ACX Crystal had a gross tonnage of just under 30,000, about three times that of the USS Fitzgerald. 
 
 It sustained lighter damage to its port bow. 
 
 The Associated Press agency said there were no injuries reported among the 20 Filipino crew members on board the ACX Crystal. 
 
 It remains at port in Tokyo.
– The search for seven US Navy sailors missing after their destroyer collided with a container ship off Japan was called off Sunday after several bodies were found in the ship's flooded compartments, including sleeping quarters. Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, the commander of the Navy's 7th Fleet, described the damage and flooding as extensive, including a big puncture under the waterline. The crew had to fight to keep the ship afloat, he said, and the ship's captain is lucky to have survived, reports the AP. "The damage was significant, this was not a small collision," he said. Navy divers found "a number of" bodies in the ship Sunday, a day after it returned to the 7th Fleet's home base in Yokosuka, Japan, with the help of tug boats. Aucoin wouldn't say how many bodies were recovered, pending notification of next of kin. He said much of the crew of about 300 was asleep when the collision happened at 2:20am Saturday, and that one machinery room and two berthing areas for 116 crew members were severely damaged. "The damage is mostly underneath the waterline," he said, per the BBC. "So the water flow was tremendous, and so there wasn't a lot of time in those spaces that were open to the sea. And as you can see now the ship is still listing, so they had to fight the ship to keep it above the surface. It was traumatic." The Japanese coast guard questioned crew members of the ACX Crystal, and is treating the incident as a case of possible professional negligence, said a rep. Aucoin wouldn't speculate on the cause of the collision. He said he would order a full investigation.