Russian ‘Dark Fleet’ Cable-Cutter Ship Boarded in Baltic Loaded With Spying Equipment: Report

A Russian-linked ‘dark fleet’ ship that is suspected of having cut an international power line and four internet backbone cables in the Baltic on Christmas Day may have been also moonlighting as a signals intelligence ship.

Oil tanker the Eagle S, which is suspected of being part of Russia’s ‘dark fleet’ of ships evading the international sanctions regime against crude oil exports, was boarded and seized by the Finland this week after it allegedly purposefully dragged its anchor on the sea floor to snag and destroy undersea cables. Now, a major British maritime publication reveals further information about the ship, revealing they have previously discovered it working as a “spy ship”.

The flying bridge of the oil tanker was given over to cases of equipment and laptops meant for intercepting and recording signals intelligence, Lloyds List states, claiming other ships of Russia’s oil-trading ‘dark fleet’ are known to have carried the same.

This information comes from previous investigations into the Eagle S, the report states, the information in which the List had verified as genuine in June. As well as concerns about the safety of the ships themselves, they then revealed it was carrying a non-seafarer aboard and that it had embarked a major suite of signals intelligence equipment.

Lloyds List said the equipment was “abnormal” for a merchant ship and was so power-hungry it would cause blackouts aboard. Their source said the signals intelligence kit was carried aboard the ship in “huge portable suitcases” and was operated by “Russians, Turkish, Indian radio officers”.

In operation, the equipment was said to “record all radio frequencies… monitoring all Nato naval ships and aircraft. They had all details on them. They were just matching their frequencies”.

The Eagle S is presently being held by the Finnish government, having been boarded by teams of armed police rappelling from helicopters onto the deck, reportedly the first time Finnish forces have ever performed such a feat outside of training. Police are investigating the ship and crew on allegations of “gross vandalism”, Finnish broadcaster Yle states, noting beyond initial reports of just one cable destroyed, the ship is believed to have actually cut five cables in the Gulf of Finland over the course of seven hours before being intercepted.

NATO has responded to the damage by saying it was to step up its presence in the Baltic — a major trade route for Russia — and Estonia has already dispatched a patrol ship to more closely watch the waters around critical sub-surface infrastructure.

If Russia is using commercial ships to disguise its signals-intelligence gathering operations, this is something of a reversion to type seen worldwide during the Cold War, when fleets of so-called spy-trawlers used the pretense of fishing to collect intelligence on Western nations and their navies. Breitbart London reported on this phenomenon last year, as more ostensibly civilian ships being discovered carrying military radios and teams of heavily armed ‘security’.

As stated then:

Remarkable claims including hidden military radios discovered by police, heavily armed Russian military-like guards onboard civilian ships, and plots to suddenly strike and destroy key infrastructure in case of a general war with the West have been made.

Particular attention in the reaction to the claims has been given to the activities of a Russian oceanographic research ship the Admiral Vladimirsky, which demonstrates the blurred lines between legitimate civilian business and government espionage by spending its time apparently delicately mapping wind farms and underwater cables used for the transmission of power and data. Given the fundamental reliance the Western world has on electricity and the internet, the amount of time the ship and others like it spends sailing around underwater infrastructure has been the cause for serious alarm.

The Russian ambassador, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) reports, denied angrily the claims made by the four-broadcaster investigation, saying they were prompted by “ethnic discrimination” against Russians, and Russophobia.

Read more at Breitbart.