Syrian navy harries German ship in Mediterranean

Jan 16, 2012, 12:32 GMT

Berlin - A Syrian warship harried a German navy ship in a nighttime encounter at the end of last month off the Syrian coast, a German Defence Ministry spokesman confirmed Monday in Berlin.

The spokesman, Stefan Paris, said the Syrian vessel sped across the bow of the unarmed German ship Alster in the incident.

He described the incident as 'nautical rudeness' and 'bad seamanship' by the Syrian vessel.

'In the dark, a Syrian fast patrol boat crossed the course of the Alster in very close proximity,' he said. 'Armed personnel were perceived on the upper deck of the Syrian boat.'

Paris said the encounter was comparable to the Cold War behaviour of Warsaw Pact vessels, which often sped across the bows of German vessels in the Baltic Sea up to the 1990s to disrupt their operations.

He denied the Alster was a 'spy boat,' as reported by the news magazine Der Spiegel, saying it was one of three reconnaissance vessels serving the German strategic military intelligence command. It had been operating in international waters.

He could not release any 'operational details' on its 'routine' and 'national' mission.

The German Navy has separate vessels in the area on a UN mission to stop arms smuggling into Lebanon by sea.

Der Spiegel said the Alster, with a crew of 85, had been operating in the eastern Mediterranean since early November. It said the incident happened 15 nautical miles off the Syrian coast.

The vessel has acoustic and optical sensors for intelligence gathering.

Syria has not commented so far on the incident.

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