venezuela cruise ship incident

Naval Patrol Boat Takes on Cruise Ship. Loses Real Bad.

Turns out you shouldn't ram a cruise ship built to withstand sea ice.

• The cruise ship, built to operate in iceberg-infested waters, suffered only minor damage and sailed to safety while the Venezuelan cruiser sank itself.
• No one was reported injured in the scrape.

The Venezuelan Navy offshore patrol vessel Naiguata, sent to intercept a lowly cruise ship, accidentally owned itself on Monday. After ramming the cruise ship RCGS Resolute 's steel-reinforced hull, the patrol boat sank. (The good news: There were no injuries.)

The Resolute suffered only minor damage because it was reinforced to withstand iceberg-infested waters .

According to Maritime Executive , the incident took place 13 nautical miles off the coast of Isla de Tortuga, an uninhabited Venezuelan island. The Naiguata ordered the Resolute to follow it to Venezuela and port, on the pretext of “violation of Venezuelan territorial waters.”

While the cruise ship crew was consulting with the home office, the navy vessel fired several warning shots and began ramming the cruise ship.

What the crew of the Naiguata apparently did not realize was that the Resolute ’s hull is stronger than average because of its iceberg-resistant hull. The ship’s website describes the hull as having “high density steel plating” to allow it to sail in “ice laden large waters.”

Columbia Cruise Services, operators of the Resolute , tell the ship’s side of the story :

While the Master was in contact with the head office, gun shots were fired and, shortly thereafter, the navy vessel approached the starboard side at speed with an angle of 135° and purposely collided with the RCGS RESOLUTE. The navy vessel continued to ram the starboard bow in an apparent attempt to turn the ship’s head towards Venezuelan territorial waters.

While the RCGS RESOLUTE sustained minor damages, not affecting vessel’s seaworthiness, it occurs that the navy vessel suffered severe damages while making contact with the ice-strengthened bulbous bow of the ice-class expedition cruise vessel RCGS RESOLUTE and started to take water.

The Naiguata ended up sinking. According to Columbia Cruise Services, Resolute stayed in the vicinity until the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Curaçao, the authority responsible for local incidents at sea, told it to continue on its voyage. Resolute also claims that offers to lend aid to the stricken ship were “left unanswered.”

The Venezuelan military disputed that , stating “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.”

A statement attributed to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro alleged that the cruise ship was actually to blame in an "act of aggression and piracy."

After being released by the MRCC, the Resolute sailed on to safety, docking at the island of Curaçao .

The website FleetMon has a photo of damage to the Resolute ’s hull, which appears minor, as well as a file photo of the Naiguata . The Resolute , built in 1993, is 400 feet long and 59 feet wide. It displaces 8,378 tons and normally carries up to 146 passengers.

Spain's Navantia shipyards built the Naiguata in 2009 as a coastal patrol ship. The Naiguata was 259 feet long, had a top speed of 22 knots, and displaced 1,453 tons. This ship was also armed with a 76-millimeter Oto-Melara rapid fire deck gun, a 35-millimeter Oerlikon Millennium close-in weapon system, and two .50-caliber machine guns. As a surface ship, Naiguata typically embarks with a crew of 34.

It’s not clear what happened here, but one thing is clear: Venezuela’s story doesn’t add up. For one, Resolute was 13 nautical miles off the coast of Isla de Tortuga, and territorial waters extend up to 12 miles.

Plus, an unarmed cruise ship that takes no aggressive action can't be an aggressor and commit “piracy” against an armed navy patrol boat. Finally, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre is a non-partisan agency that would have records of it giving Resolute permission to leave the scene.

Kyle Mizokami is a writer on defense and security issues and has been at Popular Mechanics since 2015. If it involves explosions or projectiles, he's generally in favor of it. Kyle’s articles have appeared at The Daily Beast, U.S. Naval Institute News, The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, Combat Aircraft Monthly, VICE News , and others. He lives in San Francisco.

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Venezuelan Coast Guard boat sinks after collision with cruise ship RCGS Resolute

A Venezuelan CG (Coast Guard) patrol boat capsized and sank after a collision with the Portuguese- flagged cruise ship RCGS Resolute . The collision occurred in international waters in the early morning of Monday, March 30. The cruise vessel owned by the Canada-based company One Ocean Expeditions. The accident happened approx 15 mi (25 km) off Tortuga Island.

Before the collision, the Venezuelan patrol boat crew radioed the ship's crew warning them they were in Venezuelan territorial waters and that they were to proceed to Puerto Moreno on Margarita Island  for processing.

In a statement released on Wednesday, April 1, Columbia Cruise Services Ltd (ship's managing company) said the Venezuelan crew fired warning shots into the air as their boat approached the vessel’s starboard side at a high speed. According to the company's statement, the patrol boat repeatedly rammed the bow of RCGS Resolute in an attempt to turn the vessel towards Venezuelan territorial waters.

Both vessels suffered hull damages, but the seaworthiness of the cruise ship was not affected. Meanwhile, the patrol boat started taking on water, keeled over and sank. All the 44 Venezuelan crew were rescued.

Venezuela's Government maintains it was the cruise ship crew who was to blame for the accident, saying that it had rammed into the boat and not the other way around. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said the collision was an “act of terrorism and piracy” committed by the Portuguese ship’s crew. The two countries have opened diplomatic channels to ease tensions and clear up conflicting reports in connection with the accident.

Columbia Cruise Services reported that RCGS Resolute is currently berthed in Port Willemstad (Curacao) for an investigation.

For other RCGS Resolute accidents and incidents see at the ship's CruiseMinus page.

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Venezuelan navy ship sinks after ramming reinforced cruise liner

A Venezuelan navy patrol vessel has sunk in the Caribbean after ramming a cruise liner, apparently unaware that it had a reinforced hull.

Columbia Cruise Services, the owner of the cruise liner, said that the Venezuelan crew had fired shots and appeared to be trying to seize the civilian vessel, which was also an icebreaker. It described the move as an “act of aggression in international waters”.

The 403ft RCGS Resolute is a luxury liner which sails under a Portuguese flag and is designed for voyages in Antarctica.

It had been drifting 13 miles off La Tortuga, an uninhabited Venezuelan island 60 miles off the northern coast, according to its owner.

Columbia, a German company, said that one of the vessel’s engines had been shut

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Naval boat sinks after ramming passenger cruise in Venezuela

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An undated file photo of the RCGS Resolute. (CNN)

A Venezuelan naval boat picked and lost a fight with a passenger cruise liner off the country's northern coast this week, ramming it several times before accidentally taking on water and sinking.

The proprietors of the German-owned RCGS Resolute cruise ship said its vessel had been receiving maintenance in international waters on Tuesday morning when the armed navy boat approached it and ordered it to change direction.

The encounter escalated when, according to the company, "gun shots were fired and, shortly thereafter, the navy vessel approached the starboard side at speed with an angle of 135 degrees and purposely collided with the RCGS Resolute."

"The navy vessel continued to ram the starboard bow in an apparent attempt to turn the ship's head towards Venezuelan territorial waters," Columbia Cruise Services' statement read.

However, the RCGS Resolute is reinforced with steel plating to help it navigate through ice.

"While the RCGS Resolute sustained minor damages, not affecting vessel's seaworthiness, it occurs that the navy vessel suffered severe damages while making contact with the ice-strengthened bulbous bow of the ice-class expedition cruise vessel RCGS Resolute and started to take water," the company's statement said.

A total of 32 crew members were aboard the liner, but no passengers were.

Venezuela's navy has acknowledged the incident, though it differs in its version of events.

According to Venezuela, the incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday in Venezuelan waters, next to Isla La Tortuga. Columbia CS says it took place in International waters, near Willemsted, Curacao.

The country's defense ministry suggested the Resolute may have been carrying mercenaries ready to attack Venezuela. The nation's embattled President, Nicolas Maduro, has often accused the US government and its allies of attempting to overthrow him since much of the international community backed Juan Guaido's challenge to his presidency.

A search and rescue mission successfully retrieved the crew from the sinking patrol boat, the Venezuelan navy said in a statement.

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Venezuelan Navy OPV sinks after collision with passenger ship

2nd April 2020 - 11:30 GMT | by The Shephard News Team

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Venezuelan Navy OPV Naiguatá  (GC-23) sank on 30 March after colliding with a Portuguese-registered Colombian passenger ship, RCGS Resolute .

The incident occurred at approximately 00:45, some 13.3nm from Isla de Tortuga.

A statement from Columbia Cruise Services, operator of RCGS Resolute , the vessel was ‘subject to an act of aggression by the Venezuelan Navy in international waters’.

The Naiguatá , a   Guaicamacuto-class patrol boat built in Spain, radioed the passenger liner questioning their intentions and the Venezuelan OPV requested that Resolute follow it to Puerto Moreno. After firing gun shots, Naiguatá   then collided with the passenger ship.

Naiguata began to take on water after sustaining significant damage caused by the ice-strengthened bulbous bow of Resolute . 

Columbia Cruise Services said that their vessel waited nearby for more than an hour before being told that its assistance would not be required by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Curaçao.

The MRCC’s attempts to contact the Venezuelan OPV were unanswered. 

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A Venezuelan Warship Lost a Fight to a German Luxury Cruise Ship

During the early morning hours of March 30, 2020, the German cruise liner RCGS Resolute came under attack from a Venezuelan Navy warship.

It should have been an easy win but, like so many things in Venezuela's recent history, things did not go as planned.

The German ship, owned by One Ocean Expeditions, was in international waters and flying a Portuguese flag. It was adrift as it performed maintenance on one of its engines when it was intercepted by the Venezuelan patrol ship ANBV Naiguatá.

This encounter came just days after the Trump administration declared Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to be a wanted drug trafficker and One Ocean Expeditions filed for insolvency.

Meanwhile, the Caribbean Sea is full of U.S. Navy ships.

Knowing all this, Venezuelan Capt. Granadillo Medina, in command of Naiguatá, saw a ship that appeared to be inoperable, from a company that is essentially bankrupt, floating on the edge of Venezuelan waters -- all while a hostile Navy might be waiting for the right moment to pounce.

From that perspective, one might suspect the Resolute was doing more than just maintaining an engine. Whether they were or not is unclear.

Medina radioed a warning to the Germans, demanding to board the cruise ship for inspection.

The Germans had no passengers and were set to rendezvous with a sister ship in Curaçao. They were already worried about being late and declined to be boarded.

The Venezuelans next ordered the Resolute to sail under escort to the nearby port of Puerto Moreno on Isla De Margarita.

When the Germans again failed to comply, the patrol ship attacked. Naiguatá fired warning shots across the cruise liner's bow. What comes next is disputed by everyone involved.

The Germans allege that the Naiguatá went straight at the Resolute, hitting the cruise ship's bow at a 135-degree angle. The ramming was supposedly the Naiguatá's effort to point the ship toward the island and force her into Venezuelan waters.

The tactic did not have the effect the warship wanted.

The Resolute suffered very little damage, its seaworthiness unaffected. And instead of forcing the cruise ship to go anywhere, it was the warship that suffered massive damage. She quickly began to take on water.

What those on the Naiguatá didn't seem to know is that the Resolute is a purpose-built polar expedition vessel, designed to operate in the most dangerous sea ice conditions. Her hull was reinforced for that purpose. A patrol boat like Naiguatá would never have been able to damage such a hull.

The warning shots are not in dispute, but who rammed who is. The Venezuelans say that after the Naiguatá fired the shots, it tried to cross the Resolute's path and cut the cruise ship off. They also claim the Resolute fired up its engine and intentionally rammed the Naiguatá using its reinforced hull.

Repeatedly.

Venezuela released a recording of the encounter, which can be seen 40 seconds into the video below.

As the Naiguatá began to take on water, the Resolute departed for Curaçao, allegedly leaving 44 Venezuelan sailors to go down with their ship, a violation of international maritime law.

Luckily, they were rescued by another Venezuelan vessel.

The owners of the Resolute deny the ship left the sailors to die. The Resolute's crew says they contacted the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Curaçao and asked whether the Venezuelans needed help. The Germans claim they were told they did not.

The only clear fact is that, after the incident, the Naiguatá went to the bottom of the Caribbean Sea and no one was killed. But Maduro maintains the Resolute was planning acts of "terrorism and piracy" off of Venezuela's territorial waters.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at [email protected] , on Twitter @blakestilwell , or on Facebook .

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Sad news from Venezuela. The Venezuelan navy OPV GC-23 Naiguata was sunk on 30th March morning after it collided with the Resolute, a passenger ship registered in Portugal. The Resolute continued to sail to Curaçao without rescuing the Venezuelan crew of the sinking vessel.

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.

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.

The Guaicamacuto-Class coastal surveillance ship built by Spanish firm Navantia was delivered to Venezuela in June 2009, four years after a contract for 8 patrol boats was signed. The boat, powered by two diesel engines, has a displacement of 1700 tons and can attain a maximum speed of 22knots.

The vessels of this class incorporate a mono-hull and superstructure made of steel. Other notable features include a flight deck, stern ramp for a RHIB boat and fire-fighting equipment and system. The class is equipped with communications intelligence (COMINT) and LINK Y datalink and identification, friend or foe (IFF) systems.

The main gun fitted forward is a 76mm / 62 Oto Melara that can fire at a rate of 120 rounds a minute for a maximum range of 30,000m. Guaicamacuto ships also have an Oerlikon Millennium 35mm close-in weapon system (CIWS) at the stern. It has a maximum rate of fire of 1,000 rounds a minute. The firing is controlled by the fire-control system employing radar or electro-optical trackers.

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Baltimore bridge collapse wasn't first major accident for giant container ship Dali

Propulsion failed on the cargo ship that struck the Francis Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday as it was leaving port, causing it to collapse into the frigid Patapsco River. Its crew warned Maryland officials of a possible collision because they had lost control.

“The vessel notified MD Department of Transportation (MDOT) that they had lost control of the vessel” and a collision with the bridge “was possible,” according to an unclassified Department of Homeland Security report. “The vessel struck the bridge causing a complete collapse.”

An official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed to USA TODAY that the DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is working with federal, state, and local officials “to understand the potential impacts of this morning’s collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.”

Clay Diamond, executive director, American Pilots’ Association, told USA TODAY power issues are not unusual on cargo ships, which are so large they cannot easily course correct.

“It’s likely that virtually every pilot in the country has experienced a power loss of some kind (but) it generally is momentary,” Diamond said. “This was a complete blackout of all the power on the ship, so that’s unusual. Of course this happened at the worst possible location.” 

The ship in Tuesday's crash, Dali, was involved in at least one prior accident when it collided with a shipping pier in Belgium.

That 2016 incident occurred as the Dali was leaving port in Antwerp and struck a loading pier made of stone, causing damage to the ship’s stern, according to VesselFinder.com, a site that tracks ships across the world. An investigation determined a mistake made by the ship’s master and pilot was to blame.

No one was injured in that crash, although the ship required repair and a full inspection before being returned to service. The pier – or berth – was also seriously damaged and had to be closed.

VesselFinder reports that the Dali was chartered by Maersk, the same company chartering it during the Baltimore harbor incident.

The 9-year-old container ship had passed previous inspections during its time at sea, but during one such inspection in June at the Port of San Antonio in Chile, officials discovered a deficiency with its "propulsion and auxiliary machinery (gauges, thermometers, etc)," according to the Tokyo MOU, an intergovernmental maritime authority in the Asia-Pacific region.

The report provided no other information about the deficiency except to note that it was not serious enough to remove the ship from service.

Follow here for live updates: Baltimore's Key Bridge collapses after ship strike; construction crew missing: Live Updates

Why did Dali crash into the Baltimore bridge?

Officials said Tuesday they’re investigating the collision, including whether systems on board lost electricity early Tuesday morning, which could be related to mechanical failure, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Accidents at sea, known as marine casualties, are not uncommon, the source told USA TODAY. However, “allisions,” in which a moving object strikes a stationary one with catastrophic results, are far less common. The investigation of the power loss aboard the Dali, a Singapore-flagged vessel, will be a high priority.

In a video posted to social media, lights on the Dali shut off, then turned back on, then shut off again before the ship struck a support pier on the bridge.

Numerous cargo and cruise ships have lost power over the years.

The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea requires all international vessels to have two independent sources of electricity, both of which should be able to maintain the ship's seaworthiness on their own, according to a safety study about power failures on ships , citing the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.

The Dali's emergency generator was likely responsible for the lights coming back on after the initial blackout, Diamond said.

“There was still some steerage left when they initially lost power,” he said. “We’ve been told the ship never recovered propulsion. The emergency generator is a diesel itself – so if you light off the generator, that’s also going to put off a puff of exhaust.”

Under maritime law, all foreign flagged vessels must be piloted into state ports by a state licensed pilot so the Dali's pilot is licensed by Association of Maryland Pilots .

Diamond described the incident based on information from the Maryland agency that licensed the pilot aboard the ship. His organization represents that group and all other state piloting agencies in the US.

“The pilot was directing navigation of the ship as it happened,” he said. “He asked the captain to get the engines back online. They weren’t able to do that, so the pilot took all the action he could. He tried to steer, to keep the ship in the channel. He also dropped the ship’s anchor to slow the ship and guide the direction.

“Neither one was enough. The ship never did regain its engine power.”

How big is the Dali ship?

The Dali is a 984-foot container vessel built in 2015 by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea. With a cruising speed of about 22 knots – roughly 25 mph. It has traveled the world carrying goods from port to port.

The ship, constructed of high-strength steel, has one engine and one propeller, according to MarineTraffic.com.

The Dali arrived in Baltimore on Sunday from the Port of Norfolk in Virginia. Before that, it had been in New York and came through the Panama Canal.

It remains at the scene of the collapse as authorities investigate.

Who owns and operates the Dali?

It is owned by the Singapore-based Grace Ocean Pte Ltd but managed by Synergy Marine Group, also based in Singapore. It was carrying Maersk customers’ cargo, according to a statement from the shipping company.

“We are deeply concerned by this incident and are closely monitoring the situation,” Maersk said in the statement. 

Synergy, which describes itself as a leading ship manager with more than 600 vessels under its guidance, issued a statement on its website acknowledging the incident and reporting no injuries among its crew and no pollution in the water. There were two pilots on board and 22 crew members in all, according to Synergy, all of them from India.

USA TODAY reached out to Synergy on Tuesday, but the company did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Contributing: Josh Susong