Freighters with Russian crew deployed drones in European airspace: report

Two cargo ships with Russian crews are suspected of deploying drones over European territory in May - once above a military site near Kiel and once over a German patrol ship near Dutch waters, according to research by Pointer, Follow The Money, and international partners. No hard evidence was found, but investigative authorities suspect that the cargo ships are responsible for the drones.

The first incident was in early May. The German authorities had noticed the cargo ship HAV Dolphin, which sails under the flag of the Caribbean island of Antigua and Barbuda but with a fully Russian crew, behaving suspiciously off the coast of Kiel. At the same time, they spotted drones near the military site in Kriel.

The German authorities asked the Dutch Coast Guard to keep an eye out for the vessel, and on May 15, the Dutch authorities stopped the HAV Dolphin at the Volkerak locks in Noord-Brabant. Dutch Customs and Koninklijke Marechaussee officers inspected the freighter, but found no drones.

On May 17, drones appeared above the German patrol ship Potsdam, which was shadowing the Russian freighter Lauga in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The drones followed the German patrol ship for three hours, until just before it reached Dutch waters.

The German authorities could not determine whether the drones came from the Lauga, but asked Customs in Belgium, where the ship was heading, to check the freighter. The Belgian authorities found no drones.

Sources in the Netherlands and abroad told Pointer that the German authorities have informed European law enforcement agencies about the incidents. The ships have been closely monitored since then, but have been allowed to sail unhindered.

According to Pointer, German law enforcement agencies have noticed more drone sightings over critical infrastructure. The Dutch authorities - the Ministry of Defense, military intelligence service MIVD, and the Dutch Navy - would not tell the program whether spying drones have been spotted in the Netherlands. The Coast Guard said it is aware of drone sightings at sea, “but their origin or identification is unknown to us.”

Niels Woudstra, a former naval officer and lawyer, told Pointer that the use of drones is Russia’s next step in how it “wages hybrid war.” Drones are a simple weapon - cheap, small, and easy to deploy, he said. “They are easy to hide on a large ship. And the advantage of drones is that there are few legal regulations about them. Maritime law says nothing about it. You can simply use them on the high seas.”

Stopping the drones is virtually impossible, Woudstra said. The equipment needed to detect small drones is expensive. He, therefore, thinks that European countries will instead opt for arming themselves against drones. “You can always shoot them out of the sky, of course. It is only an unarmed drone, and a flight ban applies above a military area. So you can easily take countermeasures there. The same will happen with warships at sea.”