Five officers were injured Friday when Royal Bahamas Defence Force vessel HMBS Cascarilla hit a reef and ran aground in waters off Ragged Island.
One of the officers was severely injured and had to be airlifted to New Providence for emergency medical care.
The 100-ft vessel was responding to reports from the US Coast Guard about more Dominican poachers in the area.
Officers were searching for the criminals when the vessel hit a reef and ran aground. The US Coast Guard helicopter airlifted the badly injured officer to the capital to get emergency medical attention.
The officer’s current condition is unknown.
The incident came one day after Defence Force officers apprehended 83 Dominican poachers onboard “El Ship” and “Angel Gabriel”.
The unscrupulous foreigners illegally caught tens of thousands of dollars worth of seafood in Bahamian waters before they were caught off the Great Bahama Bank on Thursday morning.
More details on Friday’s accident to follow.