The captain of a cargo ship that hit a U.S. destroyer near Japan earlier this month has told investigators that the ship sent emergency warnings as the American vessel suddenly cut across its path, according to a person with direct knowledge of the testimony.

The ACX Crystal blared its horn and flashed its lights as the USS Fitzgerald crossed in front of it from the left around 1:30 a.m. on June 17 south of Tokyo, the captain said, according to the person, in an account U.S. investigators contest.

“The Crystal turned right to prevent the crash, but it was too late,” the person cited the captain’s report as saying.

The description of the account from Crystal captain Ronald Advincula to investigators is the first available direct testimony from either crew of the incident, which killed seven U.S. sailors. Mr. Advincula couldn’t be reached for comment. It wasn’t clear from the account of his testimony whether the captain was saying he was on the bridge of the vessel at the time.

In response to the account, U.S. military officials said there had been no communication between the two ships before the collision and the cargo ship’s loud collision alarm never sounded. They raised questions particularly about the commercial ship captain’s reported contention that his ship tried to signal the warship for at least 10 minutes before hitting it.