A Venezuelan Navy boat sank on Monday after a collision with the Portuguese flag cruise “Resolute”, north of the island of La Tortuga (181 kilometers northeast of Caracas), was announced today.
According to the Venezuelan Ministry of Defense, at 12:45 am on Monday (5:45 am in Lisbon), the Coast Guard boat “Naiguatá GC-23” performed “maritime patrol tasks” in the Venezuelan territorial sea when “it was hit by the passenger ship ‘Resolute’ (122 meters long and 8300 tons of displacement), Portuguese flag ”.
The collision occurred when the Navy vessel “was carrying out a maritime traffic control procedure, which caused great damage” on the Venezuelan Coast Guard boat.
“The action of the‘ Resolute ’ship is considered cowardly and criminal because it didn’t respond to the rescue of the crew, in violation of international regulations that regulate the rescue of life at sea. This ship is currently in the port of Willemstad, capital of Curaçau, where it docked this morning, ”explains the statement.
According to the statement, search and rescue operations, along with the professional and courageous performance of Venezuelan personnel, “allowed the rescue of the entire crew”.
“The Venezuelan State takes the corresponding legal actions,” concludes the document.
The local press said that the “Naiguatá GC-23” crew was made up of 44 men.
The boat was built by the Navantia shipyard in San Fernando, Spain, and delivered to the Venezuelan authorities on June 24, 2009.
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