Russian ships spied for half a year off the coast of Belgium

During the last 6 months, 5 Russian ships were regularly spotted near the coast of Belgium.

The Belgian Maritime Security Service suspects Russian shipping companies of espionage in the North Sea. This is reported by Belga.

So, over the past six months, at least 5 non-military ships of the Russian Federation passed by the Belgian coast.

“Nowadays it is more difficult to detect espionage than in the past: where before it was mainly research or military ships, now we more often see non-military vessels,” commented the spokesman of the Belgian Maritime Security Service, Thomas de Spigelere, “These are, for example, ‘merchant’ or “fishing” vessels” Suspicion of espionage arises if they suddenly start moving much more slowly.”

In particular, the special services suspect the Russian shipping company Norebo of illegal activity. It operates more than 40 vessels fishing for cod and saury in the Norwegian and Barents Seas, as well as in the Pacific Ocean. One of Norebo’s trawlers, the Taurus, was exposed for espionage in late 2022 when it made “unusual maneuvers” that coincided with the surfacing of U.S. submarines.

In addition, the Belgian services are concerned about the activity of the trawler “Captain Sokolov” in the North Sea. The vessel is equipped with powerful technologies that can be used both for finding fish and for spying on underwater infrastructure.

As USM wrote, earlier the Swedish Navy also suspected Russian trawlers of espionage.