Cargo ship owned by Japanese firm hit by missile off Ukraine coast

Russia is attacking Japanese interests now, hope this results in a stronger response from the government here.

The Namura Queen did not know of the initial warning

The vessel did not follow proper maritime procedures.

The hit was a warning shot, not a kill shot.

one of the 20 Filipino crew sustained a non-life threatening injury to his shoulder

Hope the shoulder heals soon.

BroncoToday  06:03 pm JST

The Namura Queen did not know of the initial warning

The vessel did not follow proper maritime procedures.

The hit was a warning shot, not a kill shot.

If it hits the target it's not a "warning shot".

The hit was a warning shot, not a kill shot.

Like the failed Novichok episodes.

Or do you have direct info from the source, if so what is the source. Perhaps one of these: state news agency RIA, state TV channel Zvezda, and pro-Kremlin news sites Lenta.Ru and Gazeta.Ru.

On a media aside,I was surprised to learn that Russians use Facebook, or perhaps did, now that their Tsar Putin has barred its use in his kingdom. Why with all the different cyberwarfare techniques Russia uses, some high level enough to knock out power systems and steal money from banks, do Russians have to rely on basic 'Western' technology for simple communication purposes.

Russia lost Sergey Brin and his mathematician father to the US, and who knows how many other brilliant minds have also left because they were unwilling to live a life with limited freedoms and be beholden to big brother Putin and oligacrhs Think how much richer Putin could be if Brin's father could have stayed in Russia and his son Sergey had started Google there, instead of at Stanford, in California. I imagine Putin would have seized it so he could have even greater control and wealth.

The vessel did not follow proper maritime procedures.

The hit was a warning shot, not a kill shot.

Shooting at innocent cargo vessels as they try to leave a conflict zone is not “proper maritime procedures”, its a crime.

“Godspeed” to the 20 Filipino crew attempting to get the damaged Japanese ship to Turkey. Japan will owe a great debt of gratitude to the first of it’s ‘foreign-worker’ heroes in this current international conflict.

Incidentally, shoulder injuries can take from 2-7 months to heal properly, even under the best medical care. Even thereafter, the injured may forever have diminished use. Wishing him/her a speedy recovery.

Russia is a pariah, fascist state. Despicable behaviour. Japan and the world are right to condemn their aggression.

When China, Belarus and North Korea are your only allies you know you are finished.

Not so amazing when one thinks about it: It’s a national security risk!

From Feb 5, 2018:* “Tracking apps that reveal location of British warships spark security fears” - “Mine hunter and helicopter carrier among vessels spotted near UK coastline” -*

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/royal-navy-tracking-app-warship-nato-russia-china-military-security-a8191896.html

The hit was a warning shot, not a kill shot.

That was Russians , shooting missiles in non-Russian waters.

Russian forces hitting people/properties from Japan, Panama, the Philippines...

Are Russian diplomats going to apologize to the 3 countries ?

Or is Russia already at the level of savagery of North Korea ? Well, no it's beyond because North Korea doesn't invade others.

This is a good reason to stay out of the Black Sea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y2iVHUMZhg

“We’re relieved the ship and cargo is safe”; I mean:Crew

The western lack of response has been weak and cowardly. How could we leave the Ukraine to fight Russia alone?

"Ukrainian authorities said the missile was fired by Russian forces..."

Hmmm, interesting to see the childlike credibility on display here which, somehow, makes Ukrainian sources immediately believable as though a message from G-d. We KNOW that no 'news' source in our current world has 100% credibility and, if we have any experience with Western media at all and pay attention and FACT CHECK, we KNOW that even 50% credibility would be a generous estimate in normal times, but particularly in a time of crisis and trying to rouse the already programmed prejudices of their targeted minds, NOTHING that comes out of ANY side can be taken as fact, here, other than a ship was hit by a (must have been) small rocket. Regarding trying to 'rouse the already programmed prejudices of their targeted minds', we see here the success they achieve. Next we'll be hearing that the brutal Russians are bayoneting pregnant women in the streets which was a favorite theme of the 20th Century wars from all sides...and, here, Nihon's messages to the people of Okinawa prior to the American invasion comes to memory...

@zichi - do you have a similar link for Russian Naval vessels ?

Most navies do not turn their AIS on all the time. For routine transits in crowded seaways, maybe AIS will be on as a safety measure as other ships will be alerted to your ship's presence aiding collision avoidance, but most navies do not like to advertise where their ships are.

@William Bjornson, the ships that were hit were anchored in Ukrainian ports that were under attack by Russian forces at the time. Yuzhny is a few kilometers from the border of Russian occupied Crimea.

https://maritime-executive.com/article/merchant-ships-attacked-and-on-fire-off-ukraine

Note, a "civilian bunker ship" as mentioned in the article above is a ship designed to refuel other merchant ships in port, a process called "bunkering" that dates back to the days of coal even though today "bunkering" usually means liquid fuels but can also describe refueling with CNG, methanol, hydrogen or ammonia fuels. It is accomplished with both ships side by side, hulls touching, and not accomplished underway as navies do.

What’s the truth here @DesertTortoise 6:02am regarding the Black Sea as “international waters” ? - Weren’t there previous, internationally-recognized conventions limited the period of time warships can venture in and out of the Black Sea ?

Jun 24, 2021: - https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2021/06/black-sea-incident-shows-russias-determination-claim-waters-illegally/174959/ -

“*Although the sea is international waters, only warships from the countries along its coastline can stay more than 3 weeks under the Montreux Convention of 1936**.” -*

Russia’s military first claimed on Wed that it had to fire warning shots on the HMS Defender and drop bombs in its path in order to push it out of what they claimed is their territorial waters south of Sevastopol, near Cape Fiolent on the Crimean Peninsula.

The UK pushed back, stating that the destroyer had not been fired upon and they were transiting through Ukrainian waters under innocent passage. A BBC Correspondent on the Defender said the ship was followed by more than 20 Russian aircraft and two coast guard ships.” -

Months actually, Putin’s been staging for over a year:

Apr 21, 2021: “Russia amasses troops near U.S. ally Ukraine. But what is Putin's goal?”- 

*“We're now [April 2021] seeing the largest *concentration of Russian forces on Ukraine's borders since 2014," Sec’y of State Antony Blinken said Tues after flying to NATO's HQ in Brussels, Belgium. "That is a deep concern not only to Ukraine, but to the U.S.."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-amasses-troops-near-u-s-ally-ukraine-what-putin-n1263894 -

What’s the truth here @DesertTortoise 6:02am regarding the Black Sea as “international waters” ? - Weren’t there previous, internationally-recognized conventions limited the period of time warships can venture in and out of the Black Sea ?

You are referring to the Montreux Treaty of 1936. There are no restrictions on the passage of commercial vessels. Vessels must report their plans to pass through the Dardanelles, and Turkey is permitted to collect a small fee and stop and inspect vessels for certain specific reasons.

Nations with coastlines bordering the Black Sea may send warships and submarines through the Dardanelles with no exception except that "aircraft carriers" are not permitted. The Soviets and later the Russians finessed this by building cruisers with big flight decks and calling them Large ASW Cruisers. The Moskva and Kyiv classes were examples of this. The Kuznetznov class has missiles launchers forward under the flight deck so the Russians could also call these ships "Cruisers".

Naval vessels of nations that do not border the Black Sea are limited to 10,000 tons or less and may only remain in the Black Sea for a maximum of 25 days however their submarines are not permitted to enter the Black Sea. This has led for calls for NATO member Romania to build a half dozen diesel electric subs to counter the same number of Russian boats in their Black Sea fleet and calls for other NATO members to pay the cost to build and operate them. So far Romania has not publicly said anything one way or the other on this topic but they have been busy rebuilding their small navy.

Note that the Montreux Treaty uses definitions of naval vessels taken verbatim from the Washington Naval Treaty and as such is out of date. There are classes of warship today that did not exist in 1936 such as the many types of amphibious assault ships with flight decks. Are those "Aircraft Carriers" or something else?

Violation! Japan must protest this blatent unprovoked attack.

zichiToday  03:44 am JST

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said on Saturday Turkish President Tayyip Ergogan had agreed to bar Russian warships from accessing the Black Sea via Turkish straits, the Bosporus and the Dardanelles.

For once this egghead is doing something right.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said on Saturday Turkish President Tayyip Ergogan had agreed to bar Russian warships from accessing the Black Sea via Turkish straits, the Bosporus and the Dardanelles.

The situation regarding ships of a nation involved in war who also have a coastline along the Black Sea is less straightforward than you think. Ships of a nation at war cannot pass through the Turkish straits to conduct military operations however they may sail through if they are only passing through the straits in transit to their home port with no military operations en-route. How the Turks will police this effectively is anyone's guess.