17 Russian trawlers logged mapping undersea cables connecting the US and Europe
Seventeen Russian trawlers have been logged mapping undersea cables connecting the U.S. and Europe, with over 500 incidents of Russian vessels loitering over critical communications cables reported in under five years.
According to The Telegraph, Moscow is apparently using commercial fishing trawlers to map undersea cables connecting the U.S. and Europe. The investigation uncovered over 500 incidents where Russian fishing boats loitered above critical communications cables over a span of four and a half years. All data came from Global Fishing Watch, which uses satellite data to track vessels over the open ocean.
While the general location of most undersea cables is clearly marked on nautical charts so ships can avoid them, any operation involving undersea cables requires more accurate positioning data. The satellite tracks of these suspicious Russian ships are cross-referenced over nautical charts that marked the locations of undersea cables.
Specific cable targets
The Telegraph provided three examples of Russian trawlers seemingly surveying critical infrastructure. One ship followed the track of nine separate cables under the Atlantic, including the Atlantic Crossing 1 telecommunications cable and the decommissioned TAT-14 undersea cable owned by Sprint Corporation.
Another ship loitered near the trans-Atlantic Hibernia Express cable and then followed the route of the Shefa-2 cable that connects Shetland to the Faroe Islands. A third partially followed the tracks of the Amitie and Grace Hopper undersea cables, which connects the UK, France, and Spain to the U.S.
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