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 more general 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 ship, but we shouldn’t be naïve 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 infrastructures.“