The Russian shadow fleet not only earns billions of kroner for Putin's war machine by transporting sanctioned oil around the world. It is also in the process of spying on critical infrastructure in Denmark.
This is revealed by internal correspondence from the state-owned pilotage company DanPilot, which Danwatch is in possession of.
A joint email from earlier in July under the heading ‘Militant types on the bridge’ states:
“There are more and more reports about ships that have a few extra crew members, who are probably Russian, who are wearing military uniforms and are very active in photographing, among other things, bridge passengers. All these reports are of course forwarded to the authorities,” the email reads.
The warning comes, among other things, after an episode a few days earlier, where a picture was taken of a man in uniform standing and filming from a sanctioned ship from shadow fleet.
Security policy advisor is not surprised
Security policy advisor Jakob Kaarsbo, who has a past as a chief analyst in the Danish Defense Intelligence Service, is not surprised by Russia's new initiatives.
- It seems that Russia has started to use the shadow fleet as a form of hybrid deployment, and that they are particularly active when they sail past Danish strategic installations and critical infrastructure is unfortunately not surprising. It is well documented how Russia previously used so-called research ships in a military context to map underwater infrastructure, he says.
According to analyses from, among others, Lloyd's List Intelligence, the Russian shadow fleet consists of over 700 tankers, of which 444 are currently sanctioned by the EU. They pass through Denmark and the Great Belt almost daily, because that is the only way out when they come from the large Russian oil ports around St. Petersburg.
Naval captain and military analyst Jens Wenzel Kristoffersen does not see it as a threat in itself that pictures of critical infrastructure are taken from ships in the shadow fleet.
- These are probably photographed in advance. On the other hand, it may be a matter of keeping the Russian intelligence service updated on any changes to the critical infrastructure by photographing these when passing, so that one always has the latest information regarding any. sabotage actions, which must be expected to have already been planned, he says.
Denmark Emergency Management Agency: Pilots must report relevant matters
Danwatch has submitted the observations to the Danish Emergency Management Agency, which refers to the fact that pilots must report to the relevant authority any observed matters that are of importance to navigational safety, the environment or other societal considerations, according to the Pilotage Act.
“Thus, DanPilot, like other pilotage series, must report all relevant matters to the Danish Emergency Management Agency. Beyond this, the Danish Emergency Management Agency cannot comment further on DanPilot's observations,” writes the Danish Emergency Management Agency.
The agency also highlights that there is ongoing national cooperation across relevant authorities on coordinating measures against the shadow fleet.
amp
Text, graphics, images, sound, and other content on this website are protected under copyright law. DK Medier reserves all rights to the content, including the right to exploit the content for the purpose of text and data mining, cf. Section 11b of the Copyright Act and Article 4 of the DSM Directive.
Customers with IP agreements/major customer agreements may only share Danish Offshore Industry articles internally for the purpose of handling specific cases. Sharing in connection with specific cases refers to journaling, archiving, or similar uses.
Customers with a personal subscription/login may not share Danish Offshore Industry articles with individuals who do not themselves have a personal subscription to Danish Offshore Industry.
Any deviation from the above requires written consent from DK Medier.
