Several Russian ships with suspicious activity along the Norwegian coast

The Russian ship Vladimir Rusanov has been sailing along the Westland coast for the past week, traffic data from BarentsWatch shows. The destination for the journey is stated to be Murmansk.

The ship has operated along the pipeline that goes to the Nyhamna plant and Ormen Lange, writes The Times of the Fjords.

Lying at rest outside Måløy

The boat has gone beyond what is known as the NATO radar, which is a system of radar stations along the coast and which is operated by the Norwegian Defense Forces in collaboration with NATO.

The boat lay at rest for a long time west of Måløy on the Westland coast, with a clear view of the Defense radar on Kvalheimsfjellet, writes Bergens Tidende. Here, the Norwegian Armed Forces are working to upgrade the radar.

The boat reported engine problems on Monday, and the Coast Guard ship KV “Bison” moved out.

– After carrying out repairs, the ship started again, but it didn’t last long before they had another stoppage, duty manager Silje Berger at the Coastal Administration tells BT.

According to BarentsWatch the boat has spent two weeks from Southern Norway to Trøndelag, and has gone close to land along the whole of Western Norway.

Russian ships circled off Ålesund

On July 16, another Russian ship was said to be behind remarkable activity along the Norwegian coast, writes Sunnmørsposten.

The icebreaker Nikolay Chike is said to have been circling from around 1pm until 6.30pm off Sunnmøre. According to the Norwegian Armed Forces’ operational headquarters, the ship is to be a Russian state vessel.

– We are well aware of Russian vessels that sail in the waters off Møre and Romsdal, says police inspector Steinar Strand Olsen in the Police Security Service (PST).

The defense follows along

He says that PST is aware that some ships take advantage of the fact that tracking systems can be switched off, and that it is difficult to distinguish between what is normal activity and what should be tackled.

– When Russian vessels sail along the Norwegian coast, it can both be part of the normal picture and be a reason for concern and further follow-up, says Olsen.

Acting communications manager Hanne Olafsen at the Norwegian Armed Forces’ operational headquarters says they are monitoring the situation.

– We have a good overview and, as always, we keep a close eye on what is going on in our immediate areas with a military presence in and around Norway, but for obvious reasons cannot get into how.