Venezuela has suffered a tough loss of one of its few remaining warships. Media reports say a Venezuelan warship sank after it fired upon and repeatedly rammed a German cruiseliner. Only problem was, the German ship had a strengthened hull for breaking through antarctic ice.
Failed socialist Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accused the captain of the RCGS RESOLUTE cruise ship of “terrorism and piracy” and sought to force the ship into a new direction on the high seas on March 30. The cruise ship, which had no passengers on board and was sailing under a Portuguese flag, didn’t budge and its reinforced hull withstood the attack with only minor scraping and dents.
Columbia Cruise Services, the Hamburg-based company that owns the RCGS RESOLUTE, issued a statement on Wednesday: “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.”
The warship GC-23 now lies at the bottom of the ocean. The sinking was another humiliation for the socialist regime of Venezuela.
The company added that “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.”
Columbia Cruise Services continued, stating that “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.”
Venezuelan Navy attempts midnight boarding of five-star Antartic cruise ship RCGS Resolute. Resolute rams BVL Naiguatá capsizing and sinking warship. All crew accounted for. Resolute safely in Curacao port with minor damage to strengthened hull. https://t.co/2ObpkjxKOv
— Venezuela BTH (@VenezuelaBTH) April 1, 2020
According to the statement, “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.”
–Wire Services
