Timothy Sigsworth
A British couple whose yacht was threatened by a Russian warship in the English Channel have said they did not do “anything wrong”.
Jane and Alan Kelvey, 68 and 70, were sailing the 12-metre Bright Future from Lymington, Hampshire, to France when the Admiral Grigorovich, a 124-metre Russian frigate, fired warning shots about 11.40am on Tuesday (UK time).
The Kelveys were about 37 kilometres south of the Isle of Wight when they came within 500 metres of the warship in their British-flagged yacht, and the gunshots rang out.
The incident represents a fresh escalation of tensions with Moscow and came days after the Smyrtos, a shadow tanker carrying sanctioned Russian oil, was boarded and seized by Royal Marines in the Channel.
The Russian Defence Ministry accused the couple of following a “dangerous course”. It said one of its ships had fired flares in an attempt to make contact.
However, the Kelveys accused the Admiral Grigorovich of recklessness. They said it did not communicate with them via radio, the two ships were not on a collision course, and they did not know the Grigorovich was a military vessel because it was not broadcasting its GPS location.
The couple contradicted the Russians, saying that the Admiral Grigorovich did not fire any flares to warn them that they were in danger. They added that visibility had been “reasonable”.
Having spotted the vessel ahead, they planned to pass the ship on its starboard side with a berth of 500 metres.
But when the warship then sounded its horn five times, they changed course by two degrees in an attempt to increase the distance between them.
“We were not on a collision course in any way shape or form … we didn’t do anything wrong”, the couple told GB News. “We followed all the collision regulations… the closest we got to them was 500 metres … and as soon as we heard the gunshots, we put our engine on.”
When the warship fired a warning salvo into the air, Jane Kelvey “crouched” for cover.
“I didn’t think our safety was in danger,” she told The i newspaper. “But it was certainly unusual. As we sailed away, we said to each other, ‘What the hell just happened?’”
A boat from patrol vessel HMS Tyne visited the yacht to gather details of the incident, and the Kelveys continued towards Cherbourg, where they docked at 5pm after departing Lymington at 4am.
‘We’re glad it’s over’
“We’re shattered, having left at four o’clock this morning,” Jane Kelvey said. “We’re glad it’s over.”
Military sources played down the encounter as a “nautical incident” rather than escalatory behaviour by Russia, suggesting the fault lay with the pleasure boat. They stressed that issuing warning shots was standard procedure for warships feeling vulnerable to a risk of collision.
The Russian Defence Ministry said: “To attract the attention of the yacht’s crew, flares were fired, and sound signals were sounded. Despite these measures, the vessel continued its dangerous approach.
“After closing the distance to 150 metres, the frigate’s commander decided to fire pre-emptively at the vessel’s course with small arms. The British-flagged yacht then immediately changed course and continued moving away from the Russian warship.
“The crew of the frigate Admiral Grigorovich acted in strict accordance with international shipping regulations and took all necessary measures to prevent the incident.”
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: “Following attempts to contact a British vessel in the Channel, the Grigorovich fired warning shots. These were not aimed at the vessel and were an attempt to prevent a possible collision.
“We assess that this is an isolated incident and not linked to the UK’s interception of the Smyrtos this weekend. HMS Mersey has been monitoring the Russian vessel, and support has been provided to the crew of the yacht.”
The Admiral Grigorovich, one of Vladimir Putin’s Black Sea Fleet ships, has been near British waters for some weeks. The vessel has been observed escorting shadow oil tankers and loitering near a wind farm off the Suffolk coast.
The Telegraph, London
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