1988 Black Sea bumping incident

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 the Yorktown into international waters. The incident also involved the destroyer USS Caron which, while also claiming the right of innocent passage, was intentionally shouldered by a Soviet Mirka-class frigate SKR-6. The Yorktown reported minor damage to its hull, with no holing or risk of flooding. The Caron was not damaged.

At the time the Soviet Union recognized the right of innocent passage for warships in its territorial waters solely in designated sea lanes. The United States believed there was no legal basis for a coastal nation to limit warship transits to sea lanes only. Subsequently the U.S. Department of State found that unlike the English-language text of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Russian-language text of Article 22, paragraph 1 allowed the coastal state to regulate the right of innocent passage whenever necessary. Following the incident, the Soviet Union expressed a commitment to resolve the issue of innocent passage in Soviet territorial waters.

In 1979, the United States launched an informal program to promote the "rights and freedoms of navigation and overflight guaranteed to all nations under international law." The program was initiated because the US government believed that many countries were beginning to assert jurisdictional boundaries far beyond traditional claims. The program was specifically implemented because diplomatic protests seemed ineffective. Thus, the US stance was that a state may lose its rights under international law if it does not maintain a consistent maritime policy (for instance, if a nation were to assert an excessive maritime claim and the US avoided operating its ships and aircraft in the disputed area, the US inaction would eventually contribute to the emergence of new customary international law).

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