Venezuelan Navy OPV sinks after collision with passenger ship
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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