In what sounds like it could be an April Fools joke, a Venezuelan Navy offshore patrol vessel recently sank after ramming a cruise liner in the Caribbean Sea. The cruise ship, which had no passengers on board at the time and has a reinforced hull to sail through ice-filled waters, suffered only minimal damage in what the operating company, Columbia Cruise Services, has called an “act of aggression … in international waters.”
This Venezuelan Patrol Ship Sunk Itself After Ramming A Cruise Liner With A Reinforced Hull
Go to the link and enjoy the rest of the story and the photos.
The actions of the Venezuelan ship are not unusual and they go back decades. What is unusual is that they picked a big ship and a reinforced sucker to boot. Why do I say that their version of piracy is not unusual? Because the government vessels have always practiced harassment at sea just like their counterparts at land: Pull you over, come up with some bullshit law that you are breaking and then exact the appropriate amount of money from you to “fix this problem” and let you go.
Now usually they reserve this for pleasure boats with Venezuelan flags or the fishing boats they suspect may be selling the catch to factory ships cruising the Caribbean and who pay in cash with hard currency (US$ or Euros). It is also rumored that those boats that do not come up with the appropriate amount of cash to satisfy the government ship, suddenly springs a deadly leak.
So, I kinda enjoy the fact that a cruise ship sunk a Venezuelan warship which probably was in need of a major overhaul for lack of maintenance. I am trying to remember, but I don’t think Venezuela has had a Navy ship sunk “in action” since 1821 during the war of Independence.
Newton wins every time. For interesting reading on “Legal Piracy” in the Caribbean, check out Max Hardberger’s books Seized and Freighter Captain.
We really need to bring back letters of marque and reprisal. It’d clear up a lot of problems in waters near Venezuela, Somalia, and Indonesia without straining military resources that need to be focused on state-level conflicts like Iran and China.
Either that, or armed civilian ships.
BTW, did you notice the name the Venezuelan government picked for the next patrol boat they had on order (before the order was canceled due to “political upheaval”? I thought that sort of thing had gone out of fashion back in the days of Caesar Augustus.
As far as I know the relevant language in Article I section 8 of the US Constitution is still in force, the hard part would be getting our virtue signalling sh*t show of a Congress to issue them.