05/17/2025May 17, 2025
Germany boosted Baltic Sea surveillance amid suspected Russian sabotage, says Wadephul
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said surveillance in the Baltic Sea region has been stepped up following suspected Russian sabotage of underwater infrastructure.
In comments to Welt am Sonntag, Wadephul warned of Russia’s “shadow fleet” — sanctions-evading ships allegedly linked to damage of cables and pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
“We, as neighbors, NATO and the EU, are countering hybrid threats with all our might, including further patrols,” Wadephul said in comments released online Saturday ahead of the paper’s publication.
“In the Baltic Sea region, Russia threatens us all,” he said, citing recent incidents of severed cables, signal jamming, unauthorized ship activity and gas pipeline outages since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The German foreign minister called the shadow fleet a security risk and said the European Union will impose further sanctions directly on these ships.
“This also helps Ukraine, as the shadow fleet transports oil every day that Russia sells by bypassing sanctions,” he said.
In January, a Norwegian cargo ship with an all-Russian crew, the Silver Dania, was seized in Norway for suspected undersea cable damaging but was cleared of wrongdoing and released.
The EU is set to adopt a 17th sanctions package on Tuesday, tightening measures against the shadow fleet transporting Russian oil and oil products.
About 84% of Russia’s crude oil exports pass through the Baltic Sea.
