1988 Black Sea bumping incident

Soviet frigate Bezzavetny (right) bumping USS Yorktown

Soviet frigate SKR-6 bumping USS Caron

The Black Sea bumping incident of 12 February 1988 occurred when American cruiser USS Yorktown tried to exercise the right of innocent passage through Soviet territorial waters in the Black Sea during the Cold War. The cruiser was bumped by the Soviet frigate Bezzavetny with the intention of pushing Yorktown into international waters. This incident also involved the destroyer USS Caron, sailing in company with USS Yorktown and claiming the right of innocent passage, which was intentionally shouldered by a Soviet Mirka-class frigate SKR-6. Yorktown reported minor damage to its hull, with no holing or risk of flooding.^[1] Caron was undamaged.^[1]

At the time, the Soviet Union recognized the right of innocent passage for warships in its territorial waters solely in designated sea lanes.^[2] The United States believed that there was no legal basis for a coastal nation to limit warship transits to sea lanes only.^[3] Subsequently, the U.S. Department of State found that the Russian-language text of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Article 22, paragraph 1 allowed the coastal state to regulate the right of innocent passage whenever necessary, while the English-language text did not.^[1] Following the incident, the Soviet Union agreed to resolve the issue of innocent passage in Soviet territorial waters.^[1]