The governments of NATO and Europe, especially those with a coast on the North Sea, have been looking for months for formulas to protect essential infrastructure located at the bottom of the sea such as power cables, data transfer or gas pipelines. Everyone fears they could be on Russia’s radar like targets to destroy or sabotage.
And this Wednesday they reinforced their guard: Belgium reported that they are investigating the presence of a Russian ship that could be espionage.
The maritime region that goes from the north-eastern French coast to Denmark is one of the regions with the largest number of submarine infrastructures in the world and essential structures for the energy supply of those countries pass through it. These waters are also among those with the highest maritime traffic.
Without knowing yet (the investigation by the coastal countries continues) who destroyed the Nordstream gas pipeline, the governments are watching to ensure that something similar does not happen again.
Five months after the explosion, a joint investigation by the Danish, Swedish and German governments is still ongoing. The three Executives recognize this the investigation is at a standstill.
On 11 January, the Atlantic Alliance and the European Union announced the creation of a joint working group which will draw up a list of measures to be taken to strengthen protection of essential European infrastructure in the face of what they see as a Russian threat. The first conclusions of that group’s work should be ready in a few weeks.
suspects
The latest threat seems to come from the sea again and this time it is focused on Russia. The Belgian Minister of Justice and North Sea Affairs, Vincent Van Quickenborne, acknowledged this Wednesday in the seat of parliament that the Belgian secret and military services followed the presence in Belgian territorial waters – previously in the Dutch – of a ship they consider a Russian spy ship.
What was that Russian ship doing in Dutch and Belgian waters? According to the Dutch government it was a question of mapping the underwater subsoil to establish exactly where the energy infrastructures are present. According to Van Quickenborne, “the passage (of the Russian vessel) undoubtedly falls within the broader context of the war in Ukraine”.
The Dutch military secret service announced on Monday that it had detected the presence of the Russian spy vessel in its waters.
The Belgian authorities explain that the Russian ship sailed with the automatic identification system (AIS) deactivated and that the investigations are trying to understand what it was doing because it did not appear to have a clear purpose and did not touch port. AIS is a mandatory security system that automatically determines the identity of the vessel in question.
The minister acknowledges: “We do not know the precise motivations of this Russian ship but we must not be naive, especially considering that its behavior was suspicious and that it sailed close to our wind farms (Belgium is one of the European powers in offshore wind), pipelines and submarine cables, as well as other critical infrastructure”.
The official promised in a statement to take all necessary measures to secure the infrastructure. Belgium will strengthen its military naval presence in its waters: “Our intelligence and security services are attentive to any scenario”.
The presence of Russian ships in the North Sea is not prohibited by any European sanctions, but countries can force a foreign ship out of their territorial waters if they consider it a threat to their security, as in this case the Belgians and the Dutch.
The Belgian Navy took no action against the Russian ship beyond monitoring it, but the Dutch forced it out of the area through which it was sailing.
Neither the Dutch nor the Belgian governments have disclosed the identity of the Russian vessel, but Belgian media speak of the “Admiral Vladimirsky”, an oceanographic research vessel, not a military vessel.
In November, before circumnavigating Belgian and Dutch waters, it had already been spotted by the British Navy sailing in Scottish waters near the oil fields and hydrocarbon extraction platforms. The presence of a second ship, the “Academic Boris Petrov”, is also being investigated.
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Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.