China calls on Russia to explain cargo ship sinking

[formerlurker]

China calls on Russia to explain cargo ship sinking

China called on Russia on Thursday to explain how a Chinese cargo ship sank in Russian waters after reports it was fired on by the Russian military. Skip related content
Seven Chinese sailors were missing after the "New Star" sank on Saturday in stormy seas off Vladivostok and after a Russian warship shot at least 500 rounds into it, the official China Daily newspaper said, quoting a Chinese-language paper which in turned quoted a Russian newspaper.

The "New Star" was held at the Russian port of Nakhodka earlier this month, suspected of involvement in smuggling, before it left without permission last week, the China Daily said.

"China has already made representations to the Russian side," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference.

"We hope they continue with the search and rescue operations for the missing sailors and clarify the reason (for the incident) as soon as possible."

China says three Chinese crew members were rescued and seven were missing.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20090219/tpl-uk-china-russia-ship-sb-9562ed3.html


"Missing" or detained to be tortured to learn when they were ignoring warning and running at full speed to neutral waters?   

We report, you decide.

[Rick]

Waterboarding isn't torture.

[Chris_]

...after the "New Star" sank on Saturday in stormy seas off Vladivostok and after a Russian warship shot at least 500 rounds into it...

Either New Star was about the size of the Exxon Valdez, with a hull the likes of the USS Missouri, or I guess gunnery practice is something only bourgeois navies engage in.  I could well imagine entire surface groups being taken off-line for "refresher gunnery training" if that had been a US Navy unit firing wasting that many 5" shells on a smuggler.

[Baruch Menachem]

If you read much Victor Davis Hanson, he has a trope that militaries like Russia, Iraq, China etc. have to depend on size, because competence and initiave are things that are dangerous and unhealthy to the powers that be in a dictatorship.

Which is why the Israelis are able to routinly defeat armies 100 times their size.  In a democracy, comptency and inititive aren't dangerous.

of course, they still can't deal with a bunch of schoolkids with rocks, but that is a different issue.

So while in the west, that would be a horrible blot on the record, for non democratic militaries that can't trust their troops with real training, that is darn good shooting.

[Chris_]

Still, for a piece of hardware that has been in service in it's present iteration since the turn of the 20th century, and has an effective range of 16km, for a gun crew to not be able to drop a thin skinned merchantman - in visual range - until it had expended 500 rounds of ammunition is unconscionable.

[asdf2231]

They may have been using a 30mm, 57mm, or a 45mm automatic gun off of a small combatant.

Or they may be talking about 500 rounds of mixed naval shells AND 12.7mm machine gun fire.

Russian coastal patrol vessels are mostly armed with 3" 76mm/60 gun turrets.
or combinations of the above with AS missiles.

It might take a huge number of 30mm AP rounds to take down something on the level of a bulk cargo carrier.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Stormy seas off Vladisvostok this time of year, I'd say the only thing detaining the missing seven is Davy Jones, not the Russkiis.

[Chris_]

Stormy seas off Vladisvostok this time of year, I'd say the only thing detaining the missing seven is Davy Jones, not the Russkiis.

Arrrrrrr!  Only one man there be that got out of Davey Jones Locker, once Davey Jones put 'im there....


He looked like this when Davey caught him and put 'im in the Locker (on the left, in brown)....




And he looked like this, when he finally got out of the Locker, arrrrrrrrgh!