The victim of Friday’s Crown Bay boating accident is being transferred to a stateside hospital in guarded condition.
Robert Johnson, 69, a resident of Water Island, suffered a fractured spine when his Blackfin boat drove across a mooring line attached to the Dutch Navy ship Van Speijk.
The Dutch vessel, on liberty call on St. Thomas, was moored at the Crown Bay cruise ship dock at the time of the accident.
Maureen Venzen, an administrator at the Roy L. Schneider Hospital, said Johnson would be transferred to a Florida hospital for further treatment.
A marine enforcement unit from the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, assisted by officers of the U.S. Coast Guard, responded to the emergency call after Johnson’s vessel, with a damaged control panel, sped into the Crown Bay Marina dock.
Coast Guard Lt. Chuck Barbee said Johnson’s accident was probably the result of not being able to see the mooring line because of the depth at which the Van Speijk was sitting in the water.
The lieutenant said even as rescuers were assisting Johnson and a female passenger, they saw a second vessel almost repeat the same error.
According to Barbee, the Dutch ship assigned someone to get boaters' attention to avoid further accidents.
"We directed them to hang some kind of marker so they could see it in the daytime. And they are going to light it at night as well so it shouldn’t be a problem again," Barbee said Friday afternoon.
Editor's note: See earlier story, "Water Island Man Injured in Boating Accident" for more details.