Espionage: Hunting fever on the Baltic Sea
Reading time: 3 min.
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Russian crew, conspicuous anchorage, military installations nearby: Authorities in coastal countries are increasingly searching ships they suspect of serving as drone bases. However, so far, success has been minimal.
By Ben Heubl , Antonius Kampmann and Mauritius Much , Munich
At the beginning of May, the Norwegian freighter HAV Dolphin remained virtually motionless in Kiel Bay for eight and a half days. This unusual behavior quickly aroused the interest of German security authorities. According to information from the Süddeutsche Zeitung and NDR, the ship was inspected twice by officers from the Federal Police and the Schleswig-Holstein Water Police. The suspicion was that drones may have been controlled from the ship over sensitive areas of the German Armed Forces ; such flying objects had allegedly been sighted within range of the Dolphin .
Without a tracking signal and disguised as research or merchant vessels, a Russian secret fleet is cruising the Baltic Sea. Its goal: spying on Western infrastructure. An international investigation by Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR, and WDR reveals the dimensions of a dangerous Kremlin strategy, its concrete consequences—and the helplessness of German authorities at sea.
süeddeutsche
