Venezuelan Navy patrol ship sinks after ramming cruise ship

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, as reported by the Maritime Executive.

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 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 Curaçao, she waited on scene for one hour, her operator said. After MRCC Curaçao released her from the scene, she got under way for Willemstad, according to the Maritime Executive.

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. 

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