There is no way given the avoidance systems on these ships along with the eyes of look outs and lastly the maneuvering capabilities of these ships that an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer should be hit by any other vessel much less a huge oil tanker.
There has to be head scratching going on at the highest levels of the Navy wondering if our protection and defensive systems have been compromised by foreign adversaries. I just heard where several naval careers of major officers on the Fitzgerald are given up due to that incident so you know other officers, on ther ships, are very aware of the consequences of similar incidents and are on increased alert to avoid such events.
There are several layers of protection and counter measures to protect these Arleigh Burke-class destroyers from attack from missiles and other weapons much less something as slow and large as another sailing vessel. The greatest insult and embarrassment is that it happened with such a huge bulky, slow, cargo vessel as an oil tanker. IRAN and other nations have fast attack small boats that are designed to move stealthy, quite, and very fast and be so maneuverable as to potentially threaten a ship the likes of a destroyer and often IRAN makes runs at our ships to test such capabilities. The fact that here two events involving bulky cargo ships that should be far outclassed by the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers indicating major failures on many several levels and systems along with indications of a breakdown at the human level should give great immediate concern especially in the light of sailing in the hostile waters of the South China sea and the waters around North Korea what with the tensions there.
It should be readily apparent that if you cannot identify and avoid a lumbering cargo oil tanker that you surely cannot identify and avoid an incoming missile moving at hyper speeds and as small as they are. I'm sure some very tough questions are being ask at the highest levels over the course of the last 24 hours.