Venezuelan Patrol Boat Naiguatá

''Naiguatá'' (GC-23) was a of the Venezuelan Coast Guard. The vessel was constructed by Navantia in Cádiz, Spain beginning in 2008. On 30 March 2020, the vessel collided with the cruise ship in international waters and sank.

Construction and career

''Naiguatá'' was the third ship of the BVLs. BVL stands for "Buque de Vigilancia de Litoral", which is Spanish for littoral surveillance ship. It had a displacement of 1,720 tons. It was built by Navantia in Spain at the San Fernando shipyards in Cádiz, based on a standard Navantia Avante 1400 design. The keel was laid in October 2008. The ship was launched on 24 June 2009, christened by Alma Pura de Padrón and named after the city of Naiguatá. The Venezuelan Navy took delivery of ''Naiguatá'' from the builder and subsequently transferred it to the Venezuelan Coast Guard. Its weapons systems consisted of one Leonardo OTO Melara 76 mm gun, one CIWS anti-aircraft/anti-missile Rheinmetall Oerlikon Millennium Gun, and two 12.7 mm machine guns.

Sinking

''Naiguatá'' sank following a collision with the ice class cruise ship while in international waters on 30 March 2020. According to ''RCGS Resolute''s owner, the Coast Guard ship had fired shots and ordered the cruise ship to follow it to Margarita Island, a Venezuelan harbour. ''Naiguatá'' sank following the collision, with ''RCGS Resolute'' informing the international Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) of the incident and offering assistance. After staying in the area for an hour, ''RCGS Resolute'' was informed through MRCC that assistance was not required as ''Naiguatá''s crew had been rescued by the Venezuelan Navy.

Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro accused the captain of the cruise ship of "piracy" and "terrorism", adding later that he did not rule out that ''RCGS Resolute'' was "carrying mercenaries to attack onshore military bases". The Venezuelan minister of defence said ''RCGS Resolute''s action was an act of "imperial aggression".

However, according to the Portuguese after-incident investigation, ''Naiguatá''s heading just before the collision with ''RCGS Resolute'' may have been caused by a suction effect between the vessels as the faster patrol boat passed the bow of the cruise ship. Thus, while the collision may have not been intentional ramming, the conclusion was nonetheless that the incident that led to the sinking of ''Naiguatá'' was a deliberate act initiated by the Venezuelan Navy rather than an accidental occurrence.

Portuguese investigation details

On 6 April, the Office for the Investigation of Maritime Accidents and the Aeronautical Meteorology Authority ( or GAMA) of Portugal released a technical investigation report on the incident involving the Portuguese-flagged cruise ship.

According to the report, ''RCGS Resolute'' had departed Buenos Aires on 5 March and sailed to the Caribbean Sea along the South American coastline. On 28 March, the vessel had stopped in the open sea to allow the crew to carry out maintenance work in the engine room. After drifting closer to the Venezuelan coast on the following day, ''RCGS Resolute'' had resumed sailing west for about 90 minutes until the ship had passed La Tortuga Island and then continued adrift to a westerly direction while the starboard main engine turbocharger was being serviced.

On the night of 30 March, ''RCGS Resolute'' was contacted by the Venezuelan Coast Guard patrol boat ''Naiguatá'' at around quarter past midnight. After a brief questioning over VHF Marine band radio, the cruise ship was ordered to follow the Venezuelan vessel to Puerto Moreno on the basis that the Portuguese-flagged vessel was violating Venezuelan territorial waters. After consulting with the company designated person ashore (DPA), ''RCGS Resolute'' announced that the vessel would start engines and resume voyage to Curaçao.

At around 01:05 local time, ''Naiguatá'' approached ''RCGS Resolute'' from the starboard quarter and, after suddenly changing course to port, collided with the bow of the cruise ship. A few minutes later, ''RCGS Resolute''s master ordered the port side controllable pitch propeller first to zero pitch and then to astern thrust in order to separate the vessels. The company DPA instructed the cruise ship to remain on site and contact the local Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC). At 01:38, about half an hour after the collision, ''Naiguatá''s Automatic Identification System-Search and Rescue Transmitter (AIS-SART) was activated but ''RCGS Resolute'' was unable to establish contact with the sinking Venezuelan vessel over the radio and instead contacted JRCC Curaçao. About one hour later, the Venezuelan crew was seen preparing liferafts for launching. At 02:43, JRCC Curaçao relayed a statement from the Venezuelan authority responsible for the region, MRCC La Guaira, that ''RCGS Resolute''s assistance was no longer needed on site and instructed the cruise ship to proceed to Willemstad in order to avoid problems with the Venezuelan Navy.

Although the Portuguese authorities had not obtained statements from Venezuela, the report discussed the possibility that the unexpected change in ''Naiguatá''s heading just before the collision, as reported by ''RCGS Resolute'', may have been caused by a suction effect between the vessels as the faster patrol boat passed the bow of the cruise ship. Although the collision may have not been intentional ramming, the conclusion was nonetheless that the incident that led to the sinking of ''Naiguatá'' was a deliberate act initiated by the Venezuelan Navy rather than an accidental occurrence.

References

Patrol vessels of the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela
2009 ships
Maritime incidents in 2020
Ships sunk in collisions
Shipwrecks in the Caribbean Sea
Crisis in Venezuela
Maritime history of Venezuela
{{2020 shipwrecks