Russia's Suspected Spy Ship Fleet in North Sea Raises Cold War Era Fears

Russia's fleet of suspected spy ships operating in the North Sea has grown to nearly 200 civilian vessels, an investigation has found.

A joint-investigation by the Follow the Money platform and Belgian newspaper De Tijd published on Thursday found that Russia has expanded the number of its fishing boats, cargo ships, oil tankers, research vessels and pleasure yachts that are suspected of working to gather intelligence on the location of critical infrastructure and pipelines in the North Sea, in order to potentially sabotage or disrupt them.

The vessels are suspected of having engaged in nearly 1,000 incidents of espionage in the North Sea, and they are mostly docked in Germany, Norway and the Netherlands, the report found.

Russian ships have been linked to spying on infrastructure in the North Sea since 2014. A previous investigation by Danish, Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian public broadcasters found that at least 50 Russian ships, supposedly civilian and fishing vessels, had loitered near power plants, oil and gas fields, and military training areas, and did so during NATO training drills.

Thursday's investigation said that Russian-flagged vessels regularly engage in suspicious loitering activities, and that instead of conducting research, transporting cargo, or being used for fishing purposes, they have been used to scout out the locations and vulnerabilities of the North Sea's critical infrastructure.

"Russian ships are suspicious in themselves, even if they maintain a very normal sailing pattern. Because every Russian ship, even if it works for a private company, works for the Russian government anyway," Thomas De Spiegelaere, spokesman for the Maritime Security Cell of the Belgian Federal Public Service of Mobility and Transport, said.

"Russia could use about 200 civilian vessels for espionage in the North Sea. This has not happened since the Cold War," Agentstvo, an independent Russian investigative site, said on Friday, commenting on the latest findings.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment by email.

Sweden's Navy Chief Ewa Skoog Haslum also raised concerns about Russian vessels operating in the Baltic Sea in April.

Skoog Haslum said Russia may be conducting espionage in the Baltic Sea using its "shadow fleet" of oil tankers.

Moscow's so-called shadow fleet operates in the Baltic Sea and consists of old vessels that often operate under opaque ownership and lack adequate insurance, frequently changing their flag registrations. Experts say the vessels are being used by Russia to circumvent curbs on its oil exports.

Skoog Haslum told Swedish public broadcaster SVT that the Swedish Navy had been tracking these cargo vessels and found that some are capable of being used for espionage as they have communications and signals equipment onboard. It is suspected they can be used as part of "hybrid operations," she said.

"We are finding antennas and masts that typically do not belong to, for example, fishing vessels, so it is clear that we feel that there are sometimes other objectives associated with their activities," she said.

The navy also has documentation that vessels from the Russian shadow fleet can be used for signals intelligence, or intercepting communications, Skoog Haslum said.

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