At 1100 hours on March 7, 2740, the Nova Terran corvette Varyag, going to Port Liberty, Egelion for repairs, entered the area, in international waters, claimed by Lodamun as a "quarantine zone", and encountered the Lodamese patrol ship Andalay. The Andalay requested, by radio, that the Varyag allow Lodamese Navy sailors to board her. The crew of Varyag declined, saying that as she was in international waters the ship was not subject to Lodamese law. The Andalay fired three warning shots in the direction of the Varyag. However, the third warning shot misfired and hit the Varyag's engine, and the ship began sinking. At 1129 hours, the heroic sailors of the Varyag became the first victims of Lodamese aggression, as the Varyag became completely submerged.
Nova Terra does not wish to start a war. However, we will not allow Lodamun to violate international maritime law with impunity by wantonly sinking ships in international waters for no reason. Therefore, we would like to make the following requests to the government of Lodamun:
- A formal apology, and monetary compensation, should be given to the families of the crewmen of the Varyag.
- Nova Terra should be reimbursed to cover the cost of building a new ship to replace the Varyag.
- The quarantine zone should be redefined to only cover the territorial waters of Lodamun.
- The quarantine should only be implemented for ships going to Lodamese ports and not to ports of other countries.
We would like to stress that these requests are not unalterable demands; we are willing to negotiate on the basis of the aforementioned terms.