Poland is investigating whether explosive charges could have been laid in the Baltic Sea after a suspicious Russian ship, said to belong to the so-called ‘shadow fleet’, was seen sailing close to an undersea electric power cable connecting Poland and Sweden, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Thursday.
The 600-megawatt cable links Karlshamn on Sweden’s coast to Ustka in northern Poland, enabling the two nations to exchange electricity when prices are more attractive within one system. The incident quickly sparked concerns because of how close the Russian ship came to this important infrastructure.
We are still looking into whether explosives were placed anywhere and it has to be examined very thoroughly. ORP Heweliusz (Polish hydrographic ship) is still at sea (doing so), and currently there are no alarming signals,” Tusk told journalists during a meeting with Polish Navy commanders.
Tusk also commended the peace and measured response to the crisis: “I am truly very satisfied that in a very effective, quiet manner, without employing unnecessary measures, we succeeded in dissuading the ship from taking any kinetic steps capable of inflicting damage on the power cable.”
Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz further stated that a Polish patrol plane had chased away the suspicious ship on Wednesday, and the ORP Heweliusz was subsequently sent to the location to evaluate the situation.
The term ‘shadow fleet’ is used to describe a fleet of ships Russia employs to ship oil, weapons, and grains in an effort to evade international sanctions placed upon it for its war against Ukraine.
NATO has already increased security in the Baltic area after a series of attacks on or sabotage of underwater facilities—everything from power and telecom cables to gas pipelines, since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia’s embassy in Warsaw refused to comment on this. In past cases, Moscow has dismissed any sort of undersea sabotage in the Baltic Sea, blaming the West for using such allegations to restrict its seaborne oil shipments.
