Russki “ribbits” resound

Yesterday I mentioned the Russians acting  little froggie outside the war zones – today we get more info on that.

That ship that dragged anchor and thought to cut cut the Finnish-Estonia energy cable, called the Eagle S? Seems the Finns found some “real interestin’ equipment” on board.

RUSSIA-LINKED dark fleet* tanker Eagle S (IMO: 9329760), seized by Finland on December 25 for damaging an undersea cable, had transmitting and receiving devices installed that effectively allowed it to become a “spy ship” for Russia, Lloyd’s List has learnt.

The hi-tech equipment on board was abnormal for a merchant ship and consumed more power from the ship’s generator, leading to repeated blackouts, a source familiar with the vessel who provided commercial maritime services to it as recently as seven months ago.

As well as Eagle S, another related tanker from the same ownership cluster, UK-sanctioned Swiftsea Rider (IMO: 9318539), also had similar equipment installed, Lloyd’s List was told.

Cook Islands-flagged Eagle S and Honduras-flagged Swiftsea Rider are two of 26 elderly Russia-linked tankers with opaque ownership structures connected to three related shipmanagers, including two sanctioned by the UK government 12 months ago for “propping up Putin’s war machine”.  Lloydslist.com

Now, we wouldn’t want the Finns to have all the fun.

Two of these Russian fishing vessels have recently been outed as likely Russian spy ships, thanks to the efforts of a pan-Scandinavian reporting partnership. Danish public radio network DR has been working with its counterparts in Norway (NRK), Sweden (SVT) and Finland (Yle) to examine covert Russian maritime surveillance operations involving civilian vessels, including research ships and fishing vessels. Its reporting uncovered the recent discovery of suspected military radios in hidden, manned compartments aboard two Russian trawlers, the Lira and the Ester. Both ships had the same covert radio room arrangement, and each of the rooms turned out to be occupied by a guard when Norwegian police opened the compartment for an inspection. Maritime-Executive.com

At least they are just radio guys, right?

A Russian fleet of trawlers is mapping vulnerable European underwater infrastructure. Several of its submarines have been observed acting “strangely” in the same waters. And hackers have intensified their probes of European electricity and water grid firewalls.

But the sight of heavily armed and armoured Russian military personnel patrolling the decks of supposedly commercial fishing vessels operating in the North Sea has triggered alarm bells across Europe.

news.com.au

I know, they are just to keep nosy fisherman away from the antenna, right? The Danes aren’t terribly happy about it.

The Lira and Ester have been a near-constant presence in the Faroe Islands for years, making at least 200 visits since 2015. The two ships are nearly homeported in the archipelago, calling there far more frequently than anywhere else. The discovery has created a stir in the Faroe Islands and drawn outrage from top officials in mainland Denmark. Søren Pape Poulsen, the head of the Conservative party, told DR that the idea of Russian dual-role vessels operating out of the Faroe Islands was “crazy.”

“It is not a Faroese matter at all. I don’t really care about [their] fisheries agreements when it comes to this. Because if you, as a civilian vessel, have military equipment on board, then it is no longer about trade,” he told DR. “Then it is about foreign and security policy, and thus a matter for the Danish government.”  news.com.au

Moving along to to the weekends’ plan crash – survivor statements sure don’t sound much like the plane had a mechanical malfunction.

Survivors of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan reported hearing thuds and explosions from outside the aircraft during the flight, as the cause of the deadly catastrophe remains under investigation.

A passenger told Reuters from his hospital bed that he heard a bang, saw oxygen masks falling down and that the fuselage was damaged. He said he initially thought the plane was going to fall apart and started praying.

“It was obvious that the plane had been damaged in some way,” the passenger, Subhonkul Rakhimov, told Reuters. “It was as if it was drunk — not the same plane anymore.”  ABC News

Best guesstimates are that Russian forces around Grosny might have been a little trigger-happy, but understandably the Russians aren’t wild to publicize.

Category: International Affairs, Russia