The container ship would have had all of its running lights lit, and might have had more than required, lit up "like a hotel," so it should not have taken anyone by surprise, and the size of it alone would have been a big "contact" on radar. Amateur boaters sometimes play chicken, but that shouldn't have been a factor in this situation at all. Everyone on both ships knows their career is on the line. The destroyer would have been monitoring radar both on the bridge and in the combat information center below. This accident required a string of errors on both ships. These inquiries often take a year even before there is any panel or court-martial assembled. I think the senior enlisted man may have responsibility for the rigor of watch-standing, though why others didn't notice and complain, I don't know. This was in a busy shipping lane and the crew should have been talking actively and known who they had on deck.