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CG rescues 4 from MSC oiler hit by wave

Coast Guard helicopters rescued four civil service crew members from a fleet oiler Thursday after they were hurt when their ship was struck by a rogue wave off the East Coast.

The crewmen were standing on the deck of the oiler Kanawha as it prepared for a practice underway replenishment with the oiler Big Horn, said Susan Melow, a spokeswoman for Military Sealift Fleet Support Command. A rogue wave, tall enough to wash over the ship’s deck, knocked down the crew members, she said.

The ships were not linked by their fuel hoses or high-lines at the time. The Big Horn had no injuries, and neither ship reported any damage.

The Kanawha contacted Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads at 10 a.m. to report the injuries and ask for help, according to a Coast Guard announcement. So two MH-60T Jayhawk helicopters flew out to the ship and each took aboard two injured crew members. The Coast Guard flew the two more stable patients to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth and the other two, who were more badly injured, to Norfolk Sentara General Hospital, according to the Coast Guard.

Melow said their names were not being released, citing privacy regulations.

The Kanawha and the Big Horn are sibling Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet oilers, operated by Military Sealift Command with civilian crews and small Navy detachments.