Venezuela
An encounter between the Venezuelan patrol vessel GC-23
Naiguata and the ice-class expedition cruise ship
RCGS Resolute resulted in the patrol vessel's sinking, according to the government of Venezuela
In a statement,
RCGS Resolute's operator asserted that the cruise ship was approached by an armed Venezuelan Navy vessel at a position about 13 nm off Isla de Tortuga. The
Resolute was drifting with one engine idling and one engine undergoing maintenance. The Venezuelan vessel ordered
Resolute's crew to follow to the port of Puerto Moreno, Isla de Margarita. As this would result in a deviation from the cruise ship's planned voyage, the master sought to confirm with the shipowner before complying with the request.
While the
Resolute was consulting with the home office, the Venezuelan Navy vessel allegedly fired shots (apparently pistol shots) and then purposely collided with the
Resolute's starboard side. The ramming was repeated, the firm said, until the Venezuelan vessel encountered
Resolute's hardened bulbous bow and sustained severe damage.
Resolute did not suffer any harm affecting her seaworthiness, and after contacting maritime rescue authorities in Curacao, she waited on scene for one hour, her operator said. After MRCC Curacao released her from the scene, she got under way for Willemstad.
Images taken from the pier in Curacao show that the damage to
Resolute appears relatively minor.
The government of Venezuela identified the lost vessel as the 1,500 tonne, 80-meter patrol ship
Naiguata, and it has accused
Resolute of improperly departing the scene after the casualty. "The action of the ship
Resolute is considered cowardly and criminal, since it did not attend to the rescue of the crew, in breach of the international regulations that regulate the rescue of life at sea," the statement reads.
In a second
statement attributed to Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, the government in Caracas alleged that the
Resolute collided with the
Naiguata in an "act of aggression and piracy." Further, the government speculated that it could not rule out that
Resolute “was transporting mercenaries to attack military bases in Venezuela, unloading them out there on the high seas.”
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...amming-a-cruise-liner-with-an-reinforced-hull