Coast Guard investigates storm-caused near-collision between two cruise ships in Juneau

The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating a near-collision between two cruise ships in the Port of Juneau that occurred Monday, when one of the two ships broke loose from its moorings and drifted toward the other.

“Our investigations division, they’re running with a standard investigation, just like we would do with any similar such incident, just to investigate if there’s anything that could have gone better or not,” said Lt. Matt Naylor, public affairs officer for the Coast Guard sector covering Southeast Alaska.

“Thankfully, nobody appeared to be injured. There didn’t appear to be any significant damage, so they’re going to be proceeding forward with that investigation, and we’ve gotten some videos from the public already, which have been super helpful,” he said.

On Monday, a sudden storm prompted the National Weather Service to issue the first-ever severe thunderstorm warning for Alaska’s capital city.

High winds and heavy rain hit Juneau’s port, where the cruise ship Celebrity Edge was moored at the AJ Dock, a privately owned facility.

Videos taken by local residents and shared on social media appear to show the ship breaking its moorings and being blown toward the Carnival Luminosa, another cruise ship moored in the middle of the port.

The Edge’s drift stops only when it drops anchor in the middle of the port, halting it short of the Luminosa, which later maneuvers further away and leaves the port.

The Edge later returned to shore without incident.

After the near-miss, the Coast Guard put out a call on local social media, asking for additional videos. Thanks to local residents, it no longer needs videos, Lt. Naylor said.

“At this point, we’ve gotten tons of submissions,” he said.

Naylor was unable to say on Tuesday how long the Coast Guard’s investigation will take.

“We’re grateful for everybody who has submitted videos to us, and we are especially grateful that this did not end up being anything bigger than it was, with no injuries and no significant damage,” he said.

“That’s what we’re the most grateful for, and we’re grateful to the crews of all the ships that were involved for their fast action.”

• James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.