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Nine Injured in U.S. Navy-U.S. Coast Guard Boat Collision

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The one-of-its-kind USCG 38-foot Special Purpose Craft - Training Boat at Air Station Kodiak (USCG file image)

Published Dec 6, 2019 4:15 PM by The Maritime Executive

Nine servicemembers were hospitalized after a 38-foot U.S. Coast Guard training boat collided with a small U.S. Navy special warfare craft just off Kodiak Island, Alaska on Wednesday.

The two small craft collided during separate training exercises in Women's Bay, an inlet adjacent to the main Coast Guard base on Kodiak Island. 

All six Coast Guard servicemembers were taken to the Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center for treatment and were released the same night. The three injured Navy sailors are in stable condition, but one was medevaced to Anchorage for further treatment Wednesday night. 

At the time of the casualty, the Coast Guard boat was returning from a routine aerial hoist training exercise with a USCG helicopter aircrew. The Navy vessel was a 60-foot combat craft operated by naval special warfare personnel. Both were damaged in the collision. 

An investigation into the circumstances behind the casualty is now under way. 

The U.S. Navy's Naval Special Warfare Cold Weather Detachment Kodiak operates a training facility on the island specialized in training for cold weather survival and tactical operations.