The late October calm of the Baltic Sea was rudely interrupted Thursday in an incident straining the fragile friendship between Germany and its eastern European neighbor.

Shots were fired off the holiday island of Usedom after the captain of a cruise ship refused to cooperate with customs officers and headed off to Germany instead of the nearest port as requested.

According to a local radio station in northern Germany, Polish authorities denied that shots were fired and insisted the coastguard simply used a flare pistol in order to prevent the captain leaving Polish waters.

Defiant

Undercover Polish customs officials maintained they had found cartons of cigarettes as well as crates of liquor without Polish revenue stamps.

When confronted, the captain refused any further searches and also refused to sail towards the next Polish port.

The customs officials maintain they alerted the coastguard, who allegedly fired shots. Undeterred, the captain steered a determined course back to Germany.

"The Polish authorities were prevented from doing their job," said customs spokesman Janusz Wilczynski. "Then they were kidnapped by the German crew."

Business as usual

A spokesman for the Sven Paulsen shipping company refused to comment on the incident.

"I don't want the story to escalate," he told the local newspaper Nordkurier.

Marine traffic to Poland continued as usual on Friday.

"We're not petty," said the company's local manager, Alwin Müller. "War has not broken out."

However, the "Adler Dania" pleasure liner was expected to remain docked, with the Polish authorities announcing it was now an undesirable presence in Polish waters.