Venezuelan Navy Ship Sinks after Ramming Cruise Ship
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Is it just me or did that patrol boat look pretty knackered BEFORE it tried ramming the Resolute? In fact in the picture it looks like the gun barrel in the forward turret is already bent. Maybe this was an "insurance job"
Also the emblem the Resolute has to warn about the sticky out bow thingy ... I guess they can subtly make that a bit more masculine now
So from now on, any time Venezuelan naval officers congregate in the wardroom, nobody is going to make any small talk. After all they've all seen what happens when you try for an ice-breaker
Also the emblem the Resolute has to warn about the sticky out bow thingy ... I guess they can subtly make that a bit more masculine now
So from now on, any time Venezuelan naval officers congregate in the wardroom, nobody is going to make any small talk. After all they've all seen what happens when you try for an ice-breaker
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(Little Rocket Man has also been showing a sporting mood lately.)
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That damage is on the tip of the bow. That really looks like the cruise ship did the ramming, it would be a real trick for the naval vessel to only ram the tip of the cruise ship
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Maybe you should also have a look at what's underwater https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUtBx5fIwYc
Jack
Jack
Resolute is Finnish/Swedish ice class 1A super, but not technically an icebreaker. It is an ice-strengthened ship.
“Ships of the highest ice class, 1A Super, are designed to operate in difficult ice conditions mainly without icebreaker assistance while ships of lower ice classes 1A, 1B and 1C are assumed to rely on icebreaker assistance.“
An icebreaker would not have a bulbous bow like Resolute.
“Ships of the highest ice class, 1A Super, are designed to operate in difficult ice conditions mainly without icebreaker assistance while ships of lower ice classes 1A, 1B and 1C are assumed to rely on icebreaker assistance.“
An icebreaker would not have a bulbous bow like Resolute.
Not at all. We're not talking Roman galleys from "Ben Hur" here. The Venezuelan ship was faster and more maneuverable, it's not likely that the liner could get the drop on an alerted warship. And from the story, the Venezuelans were trying to force her into their waters, not sink an unarmed cruise liner and kill a bunch of people. (which would have all sorts of international consequences, none of which would be good for Venezuela). What likely happened was that they tried a dangerous and tricky maneuver to turn the cruise ship by physically pushing it onto a new course. To do so they would have to "ram" it "on the tip of the bow". And then they got their surprise.
Karma can be a bitch, sometimes.
I find it vanishingly unlikely that any ship's Captain, no matter how incensed at refusal to co-operate would deliberately try to 'ram' a cruise liner six times it's size in an attempt to make it change course. That is as unbelieveable as it is impractical.
No way is a little warship like that going to force another ship to change course by barging into her - that's just not going to work and would be guaranteed to cause severe damage to boot. That's like a Ford Escort trying to make an artic change direction by ramming it. Sorree - not going to happen in reality!
Far more likely is that Hot-head 'Bolivarian" skipper got pissed off that shots didn't deter the liner and in the heat of the moment tried to intmidate her by some vigourous and aggressive close-to gung-ho! manoeuvering in the hopes that she'd shy off in the direction desired.However as the liner's skipper evidently had cojones they stood on - or perhaps weren't able to react quickly enough to an unexpected manoeuvre to avoid Commander Suicide and the result is the patrol boat got herself pinned across the bows of an ice-strengthened ship which by the looks of it more or less T boned her.
The vertical scrapes on the bow of the liner look as though she rode up over the corvette (as that acute angled ice-strengthened prow is designed to do) and then using it's weight slipped downwards, pushing the other vessel down as it sliced into it. Note, all those witness marks show the Resolute's bow descended almost vertically into/through whatever it hit, that was no glancing or oblique blow.
However it couldn't possibly have done that at a speed of idling on one shaft while the other was under maintenance as has been suggested. The liner must have been travelling a great deal faster than implied by the statement issued by its owners - so there's another mystery added to the mix.
It is also worth noting that there are allegations online that the liner had previously dumped it's pax without recompense upon being unable to pay for fuel and was maybe legging it to some port of 'safe haven' for such bankrupt cowboys - if indeed that is true either!
There is evidently a great deal more going on here than is being reported.
Shame it happened at night or there'd be a bloody interesting video to see.
Still, moral of the story is;
a) might is likely to be right
b) Civilian does not mean guaranteed victim
c) bullies get their come-uppance
d) Bad seamanship generates bad outcomes.
e) Piss of Maduro badly enough (and how!) and wish you'd gone down with your ship.
as eny fule no.
No way is a little warship like that going to force another ship to change course by barging into her - that's just not going to work and would be guaranteed to cause severe damage to boot. That's like a Ford Escort trying to make an artic change direction by ramming it. Sorree - not going to happen in reality!
Far more likely is that Hot-head 'Bolivarian" skipper got pissed off that shots didn't deter the liner and in the heat of the moment tried to intmidate her by some vigourous and aggressive close-to gung-ho! manoeuvering in the hopes that she'd shy off in the direction desired.However as the liner's skipper evidently had cojones they stood on - or perhaps weren't able to react quickly enough to an unexpected manoeuvre to avoid Commander Suicide and the result is the patrol boat got herself pinned across the bows of an ice-strengthened ship which by the looks of it more or less T boned her.
The vertical scrapes on the bow of the liner look as though she rode up over the corvette (as that acute angled ice-strengthened prow is designed to do) and then using it's weight slipped downwards, pushing the other vessel down as it sliced into it. Note, all those witness marks show the Resolute's bow descended almost vertically into/through whatever it hit, that was no glancing or oblique blow.
However it couldn't possibly have done that at a speed of idling on one shaft while the other was under maintenance as has been suggested. The liner must have been travelling a great deal faster than implied by the statement issued by its owners - so there's another mystery added to the mix.
It is also worth noting that there are allegations online that the liner had previously dumped it's pax without recompense upon being unable to pay for fuel and was maybe legging it to some port of 'safe haven' for such bankrupt cowboys - if indeed that is true either!
There is evidently a great deal more going on here than is being reported.
Shame it happened at night or there'd be a bloody interesting video to see.
Still, moral of the story is;
a) might is likely to be right
b) Civilian does not mean guaranteed victim
c) bullies get their come-uppance
d) Bad seamanship generates bad outcomes.
e) Piss of Maduro badly enough (and how!) and wish you'd gone down with your ship.
as eny fule no.
Last edited by meleagertoo; 4th Apr 2020 at 00:54.
If the Resolute was 13 miles off La Tortuga Island there may be an argument that the ship was in international waters, an act of piracy given the government is not recognised internationally?
Though it would lie within the Contiguous Zone in which a state can exert limited control for the purpose of preventing or punishing "infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea". Wonder what infringement may be alleged?
My thinking would be the military ship misjudged a turn in front of the Resolute and got run over. See the two sinkings the HMAS Melbourne managed when destroyers Voyager and Evans misjudged their cross over in front of the carrier.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbou...vans_collision
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbou...ager_collision
Though it would lie within the Contiguous Zone in which a state can exert limited control for the purpose of preventing or punishing "infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea". Wonder what infringement may be alleged?
My thinking would be the military ship misjudged a turn in front of the Resolute and got run over. See the two sinkings the HMAS Melbourne managed when destroyers Voyager and Evans misjudged their cross over in front of the carrier.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbou...vans_collision
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbou...ager_collision
Last edited by megan; 4th Apr 2020 at 03:36. Reason: links
meleagertoo: I put the word "ram" in quotes for a reason. Like I said, we're not talking Roman galleys here. I suspect this was an intimidation attempt that went wrong. Maybe the patrol vessel thought a glancing blow would show, "they meant business", or thought the Resolute would veer off or just misjudged what was intended to be a very close threatening approach.
<snip>However it couldn't possibly have done that at a speed of idling on one shaft while the other was under maintenance as has been suggested. The liner must have been travelling a great deal faster than implied by the statement issued by its owners - so there's another mystery added to the mix.
Even just resting alongside each other causes a load of damage; ask a former Captain of HMY Britannia, who got a RAS with an RFA wrong somewhere in the approaches to the Persian Gulf, with HM on board as well. The two ships got too close, and the Venturi effect sucked the two ships together. Absolutely trashed the side, and she had to go into Karachi for some emergency plate work... When she did finally arrive in Dubai they had to moor her the right way round so that the one remaining shiny side was presented to the quay. Two ships resting alongside at sea are in deep trouble, as the wave action keeps slamming them against each other. Worse still the Venturi effect makes pulling away very difficult, inflicting even more damage in the process as the ships are sucked back together.
It is also worth noting that there are allegations online that the liner had previously dumped it's pax without recompense upon being unable to pay for fuel and was maybe legging it to some port of 'safe haven' for such bankrupt cowboys - if indeed that is true either!
Two ships resting alongside at sea are in deep trouble, as the wave action keeps slamming them against each other.
Jack
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They ordered the ship to go to a Venezuelan port, and if they accomplished that, it would be game over for the crew, and the ship.
Some BS excuse would be provided to justify the retention of the ship, and the crew would go through a very bad experience for some time in a Venezuelan prison, again, to justify the seizure of ship.
In 2004 a Citation X was seized in Venezuela on a drug run. The passengers (2 old ladies) were involved on the subject, as well as a retired old guy (ex local CAA) that was working as Safety adviser in the company that was operating the aircraft.
Nobody of the crew was involved on the subject. In any case they accused the FO of being involved on the subject, and he was for more than a year in Caracas in something like "house arrest" to justify what they really wanted, which was to keep the aircraft for themselves.
Naturally this aircraft never went outside of Venzuela afterwards. They knew that it would be re-seized again, and they would loose it.
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It may be instructive to review the sinking of HMS Fittleton on 20 September 1976. She was manned by the RNR and was detailed to carry out a mail transfer by heaving line with HMS Mermaid. HMS Mermaid was the only ship of its kind, having been originally ordered by Ghana, and so her characteristics were somewhat different to the then standard Leander class Frigate. HMS Fittleton approached from the rear quarter but got too close alongside Mermaid. I seem to remember that in the enquiry it was argued that the distance apart was normal for a Leander but that the hydrostatic forces were different in this case (transfers between the RNR minesweepers and Leanders were not uncommon). Whilst alongside Mermaid she was caught by the low pressure and drawn closer and there was a minor collision. She then increased speed to draw away but was caught by Mermaid's bow forces and was pulled in front of her across her bow at right angles. The subsequent collision sank the Fittleton. Sadly 12 sailors lost their lives, of whom 11 were RNR. I was in minesweepers at the time and we all had to read and digest the report of what had happened.
I would hazard a guess that the Naiguatá did much the same, approaching RCGS Resolute from astern, either to intimidate or perhaps even to pass a boarding party across. That probably went wrong (there are no pictures to ascertain whether there was a minor collision alongside) and then she either got too far forward of Resolute whilst alongside or tried to draw away and got caught sucked in across her bow. They were very fortunate that there was no loss of life.
Of course, this is not as dramatic as a ramming or "ignoring the reinforced bow" but would explain the situation. Close steaming requires practice and is especially difficult when the ships concerned are of unequal size and there is no experience of steaming alongside that particular class of ship as each class has different hydrostatic forces. It would also indicate that the captain possibly made an error but was not necessarily foolhardy and I suspect that any captain involved with maritime patrolling must be thinking "There but for the grace of God..."
I would hazard a guess that the Naiguatá did much the same, approaching RCGS Resolute from astern, either to intimidate or perhaps even to pass a boarding party across. That probably went wrong (there are no pictures to ascertain whether there was a minor collision alongside) and then she either got too far forward of Resolute whilst alongside or tried to draw away and got caught sucked in across her bow. They were very fortunate that there was no loss of life.
Of course, this is not as dramatic as a ramming or "ignoring the reinforced bow" but would explain the situation. Close steaming requires practice and is especially difficult when the ships concerned are of unequal size and there is no experience of steaming alongside that particular class of ship as each class has different hydrostatic forces. It would also indicate that the captain possibly made an error but was not necessarily foolhardy and I suspect that any captain involved with maritime patrolling must be thinking "There but for the grace of God..."
It may be instructive to review the sinking of HMS Fittleton on 20 September 1976. She was manned by the RNR and was detailed to carry out a mail transfer by heaving line with HMS Mermaid. HMS Mermaid was the only ship of its kind, having been originally ordered by Ghana, and so her characteristics were somewhat different to the then standard Leander class Frigate. HMS Fittleton approached from the rear quarter but got too close alongside Mermaid. I seem to remember that in the enquiry it was argued that the distance apart was normal for a Leander but that the hydrostatic forces were different in this case (transfers between the RNR minesweepers and Leanders were not uncommon). Whilst alongside Mermaid she was caught by the low pressure and drawn closer and there was a minor collision. She then increased speed to draw away but was caught by Mermaid's bow forces and was pulled in front of her across her bow at right angles. The subsequent collision sank the Fittleton. Sadly 12 sailors lost their lives, of whom 11 were RNR. I was in minesweepers at the time and we all had to read and digest the report of what had happened.
I would hazard a guess that the Naiguatá did much the same, approaching RCGS Resolute from astern, either to intimidate or perhaps even to pass a boarding party across. That probably went wrong (there are no pictures to ascertain whether there was a minor collision alongside) and then she either got too far forward of Resolute whilst alongside or tried to draw away and got caught sucked in across her bow. They were very fortunate that there was no loss of life.
Of course, this is not as dramatic as a ramming or "ignoring the reinforced bow" but would explain the situation. Close steaming requires practice and is especially difficult when the ships concerned are of unequal size and there is no experience of steaming alongside that particular class of ship as each class has different hydrostatic forces. It would also indicate that the captain possibly made an error but was not necessarily foolhardy and I suspect that any captain involved with maritime patrolling must be thinking "There but for the grace of God..."
I would hazard a guess that the Naiguatá did much the same, approaching RCGS Resolute from astern, either to intimidate or perhaps even to pass a boarding party across. That probably went wrong (there are no pictures to ascertain whether there was a minor collision alongside) and then she either got too far forward of Resolute whilst alongside or tried to draw away and got caught sucked in across her bow. They were very fortunate that there was no loss of life.
Of course, this is not as dramatic as a ramming or "ignoring the reinforced bow" but would explain the situation. Close steaming requires practice and is especially difficult when the ships concerned are of unequal size and there is no experience of steaming alongside that particular class of ship as each class has different hydrostatic forces. It would also indicate that the captain possibly made an error but was not necessarily foolhardy and I suspect that any captain involved with maritime patrolling must be thinking "There but for the grace of God..."
I seem to recall that one of Mermaid's major different characteristics was an absence of deep fryers and a superfluity of yam boilers. Chips were rationed and from time to time one mess at a go was allowed to share whatever could be produced in a chip pan.
N
Statement from the owners on RCGS RESOLUTE incident
In the early morning hours of the 30th of March 2020 (local time), the cruise vessel RCGS RESOLUTE has been subject to an act of aggression by the Venezuelan Navy in international waters, around 13.3 nautical miles from Isla de Tortuga with 32 crew member and no passengers on board.When the event occurred, the cruise vessel RCGS RESOLUTE has already been drifting for one day off the coast of the island to conduct some routine engine maintenance on its idle voyage to its destination, Willemstad/ Curaçao. As maintenance was being performed on the starboard main engine, the port main engine was kept on standby to maintain a safe distance from the island at any time.
Shortly after mid-night, the cruise vessel was approached by an armed Venezuelan navy vessel, which via radio questioning the intentions of the RCGS RESOLUTE’s presence and gave the order to follow to Puerto Moreno on Isla De Margarita. As the RCGS RESOLUTE was sailing in international waters at that time, the Master wanted to reconfirm this particular request resulting into a serious deviation from the scheduled vessel’s route with the company DPA.
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.
Ready to support anytime, the RCGS RESOLUTE remained for over one hour in vicinity of the scene and reached out to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Curaçao. This is an international body which oversees any maritime emergencies. All attempts to contact those on board the navy ship have been left unanswered.
Only after receiving the order to resume passage full ahead by the MRCC and that further assistance is not required, the RCGS RESOLUTE, currently safely moored in the port of Willemstad, continued sailing towards her destination at Curaçao. A full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident will now be carried out.
Last edited by twochai; 4th Apr 2020 at 21:18.
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Ohhh dear...we were right Jack 
They would have had a bit of a dilemma, if the ship had responded and they took the crew off, doesn’t the law of the sea require you to land the said survivors at the nearest port, which would have been the one they were trying to get them to go in the first place..
..
They would have had a bit of a dilemma, if the ship had responded and they took the crew off, doesn’t the law of the sea require you to land the said survivors at the nearest port, which would have been the one they were trying to get them to go in the first place..
..
Last edited by NutLoose; 4th Apr 2020 at 22:13.