Venezuelan navy footage appears to show gunshots being fired by its officers towards a cruiseship before the ships collided and the patrol vessel sank.
CNW tweeted the video, which is heavily edited.
Little clarity is offered by the footage, which shows rifles being fired near the cruise vessel and reveals damage to the bow of one of them.
Last Monday the 8,400-gt RCGS Resolute (built 1991) was in collision with Naiguata (built 2009), a patrol vessel operated by the Navy’s coastguard division.
Naiguata later capsized off the Caribbean island of Tortuga. All 44 crew were rescued before it sank.
The cruiseship owner Bunnys Adventure & Cruise Shipping said the incident was caused by "an act of aggression" by the Venezuelan Navy.
Hit and run?
Venezuela's Ministry of Defence had accused the vessel of carrying out a hit-and-run stunt on the warship and failing to take part in rescue efforts. It has threatened legal action against the vessel.
But Bunnys Adventure said: "The cruise vessel RCGS Resolute has been subject to an act of aggression by the Venezuelan Navy in international waters, around 13.3 nautical miles from Isla de Tortuga with 32 crew member and no passengers on board."
The Bahamas-based owner said its vessel had been drifting off the island for a day while conducting engine work before heading to Curacao.
According to Bunnys Adventure, the armed navy ship approached the RCGS Resolute, questioned its presence and ordered it to follow it to Puerto Moreno on Isla De Margarita.
The ice-class expedition cruiseship, with an ice-strengthened bulbous, sustained minor damage.
