The presence of a boat, “which appears to be the same as the Russian research vessel“previously spotted in Dutch waters, was detected in mid-November in Belgian territorial waters, Vincent Van Quickenborne said on Tuesday. For the Federal Minister in charge of the North Sea, “this passage is undoubtedly part of the broader context of the war in Ukraine”.
The vessel in question was sailing without an automatic identification system (AIS). The Maritime Information Center has opened an investigation following this suspicious navigation. “We don’t know the precise motives of this Russian boat, but we mustn’t be naive either”says the minister. “Especially if its behavior is suspicious and it sails near our wind farm, gas pipelines and submarine cables as well as other critical infrastructure.”
Our intelligence and security services are attentive to this scenario
In a press release, Vincent Van Quickenborne assured taking the necessary measures to secure these infrastructures. The Dutch security and military intelligence services had reported on Monday the passage of the same vessel in the territorial waters of the Netherlands. The hypothesis was then put forward that it was a question, for the Russian ship, of mapping sensitive infrastructures. “Our intelligence and security services are attentive to this scenario“, a souligne M. Van Quickenborne.
The Liberal Deputy Prime Minister also clarified that the new law on maritime security, which came into force at the start of the year, now authorizes filmed surveillance at sea, “in particular on wind turbines, in which this suspicious boat seemed to be interested. “.