Red Crusader incident

Map showing Denmark (green) and the United Kingdom (orange)

The Red Crusader incident (Danish : Red Crusader-sagen) was a 1961 maritime dispute between Denmark and the United Kingdom over fishing rights.

Background

On 27 April 1959, the British and Danish governments exchanged notes in Copenhagen establishing temporary regulations on fishing around the Faroe Islands. ^[1]

Events of 29 May

On 29 May 1961 at 17:39, the British fishing trawler Red Crusader was detained by the Danish frigate Niels Ebbesen for fishing in the waters off the Faroe Islands after a chase. ^{[2] [3]} Instead of heading towards Tórshavn, as instructed by Niels Ebbesen, Red Crusader headed for Scotland. The frigate pursued the trawler, and fired warning shots to no avail. Niels Ebbesen then fired an aimed shot, damaging Red Crusader. ^[4] The commander of the frigate was E. Sølling and the captain of the trawler was a Mr. Wood. ^[5]

Commission

On 15 November 1961, the British and Danish governments established an adversarial international commission of inquiry into the incident under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. ^[6] This was the first international commission since the Tavignano inquiry in 1922. ^[7]

Proceedings were divided into a written and an oral stage. ^[7]

The commission delivered its report in March 1962 and found no evidence of illegal fishing. Further, the commission found that the Niels Ebbesen had used excessive force, beyond that justified by international law in firing on the trawler. ^[8]

See also

• Cod Wars, a series of fishing disputes between the United Kingdom and Iceland in the North Atlantic Ocean.

References

1. "Exchange of Notes between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Denmark modifying the Convention of June 24, 1901, as later amended, concerning the Regulation of Fishing around the Faroe Islands" (PDF). BAILII . 27 April 1959. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
2. Oyarce, Ximena Hinrichs (June 2007). "Red Crusader Incident (1961)". Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Law. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
3. Nørby, Søren (November 2018). "Låst inde. Trawler stikker af" (PDF). Marinehistorisk Tidsskrift (in Danish). 51 (4): 3–19. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-05-21. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
4. Johnson, D. H. N. (July 1961). "Law of the Sea" . The International and Comparative Law Quarterly . 10 (3): 587–597. doi:10.1093/iclqaj/10.3.587. JSTOR   755929. Archived from the original on 22 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
5. Saabye, E. J. (2019). I medvind: En søofficers erindringer (in Danish). Lindhardt og Ringhof. ISBN   978-87-26-08264-7.
6. Lemnitzer, Jan Martin (1 November 2016). "International Commissions of Inquiry and the North Sea Incident: A Model for a MH17 Tribunal?". European Journal of International Law . 27 (4): 923–944. doi: 10.1093/ejil/chw056 . Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
7. Merrills, J. G. (2005). International Dispute Settlement (4th ed.). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. pp. 53–55. ISBN   978-0-521-85250-0 . Retrieved 26 May 2021.
8. Jacobsen, Ulrik (29 April 2021). "Red Crusader-sagen". Den Store Danske Encyklopædi (in Danish). Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.

Further reading

• Nørby, Søren (2021). Med fornøden dristighed: Dramatiske beretninger fra flådens historie (in Danish). Turbine. ISBN   978-87-406-6976-3.