>>1343807All the recent navy/merchant collisions have happened in relatively congested water. The carriers are not going to to be traversing that close to shore, and they will have an exclusion zone/escorts if so. Commercial traffic would not be permitted to pass while the carrier group is moving.
The biggest chance of collision is when performing an underway replenishment, when a supply ship runs along while transferring stuff. Mechanical failure or navigational failure can end with the two running against each other. Unlikely that such a relatively low speed contact would sink the carrier, though.
