Suspicious sailing by Russian ships near Norwegian gas hub

While a Russian reefer previously suspected of espionage requested emergency assistance off the coast of the Nyhamna gas processing and exporting facility, a Chinese special cargo vessel criss-crossed the same waters.

The Ocean 28 had been at sea for almost two months when it on the 25 November suddenly made a sharp U-turn and subsequently started to sail back and forth in the waters outside the island of Gossa.

The island is site for the Nyhamna gas processing plant. From the plant runs Langeled, the 1,166 km long pipeline that every year brings billions of cubic meters of Norwegian natural gas to the UK. It is one of the world’s longest underwater pipelines and an infrastructure object of key strategic importance for international energy security.

The 154 meter long deck cargo ship had sailed on the Russian Northern Sea Route from the Chinese port of Zhangjiagang. It was a risky voyage for a ship that has no ice-class.

Ship tracking services first indicated that the vessel was heading to a Norwegian port. But it later became clear that the Chinese vessel that sails under Panama flag was on the way to Utrenny, the Russian Arctic LNG hub that is heavily subjected to international sanctions.

The peculiar sailing of the Ocean 28 outside Gossa coincided with the Russian reefer Belomorye’s technical problems in the same area. The reefer, that was on its way from Svalbard, reported technical problems with its steering systems, and was soon assisted by the Norwegian Coastal Administration.

According to local newspaper Tidens Krav (paywall), the reefer is now being towed to a nearby fjord. Several Norwegian agencies are reported to be involved in the operation. The reefer is expected to stay in the area only a short time before it will be picked up by another support vessel, a representative of Norwegian marine service company Buksér og Berging told the Barents Observer.

The Belomorye is owned and operated by Norebo, the powerful Russian fishery company, and has for years shuttled along the Norwegian coast. The ship is extensively used for transshipment of Russian fish.

In 2023, it was rejected entry to Dutch ports following suspicions of espionage, a journalistic investigation reported.

The Barents Observer has not managed to get any official explanation of the sailing pattern of the Ocean 28 outside Gossa. For more than 24 hours, the ship criss-crossed in the area before it late 26 November again set course towards the south. According to information from MarineTraffic, it now has Singapore as its destination.

A reasonable explanation might be behind the unusual manoeuvring of the Ocean 28. Likewise, it might have been a coincidence that the Belomorye got technical problems near Nyhamna. After all, the ship is almost 50 years old.

But the number of cases of unusual and Russia-connected shipping activities around the Norwegian gas hub is mounting.

The Barents Observer has talked with a local ship spotter that keeps a close eye on shipping activities in the region. The movements of the Ocean 28 quickly caught his attention.

According to the man, the ship showed “strange behaviour.”

He has himself seen several previous cases of suspicious activity. Earlier this year, the Russian trawler Tarmo sailed over the underwater infrastructure in the area in a way that raised his eyebrows.

The Tarmo is built in China and was recently acquired by a fishery collective based in Ura-Guba, the heavily militarised town on the Kola Peninsula. On site in the naval base to greet the new shipowners in April 2024 was Murmansk Minister of Fisheries and Natural Resources Zinaida Sereda. “The people of Ura-Guba has waited for this ship for a long time,” she told a local TV team.

In July this year, also LNG carrier Vladimir Rusanov paid a visit to the Nyhamna area after it reported an alleged engine problem.

According to newspaper Fjordenes Tidende (paywall), the 6-year old tanker followed along a major part of the pipelines that are connected with the Nyhamna hub before it reported the engine trouble when located near a military radar in the area.

A Norwegian coastguard ship, as well as a submarine, were in the area of the tanker, newspaper Bergens Tidende (paywall) reported.

The Vladimir Rusanov is part of the fleet that shuttles to the Russian Sabetta terminal in the far northern Yamal Peninsula.

Nyhamna has also experienced suspicious drone activity. In 2016, a big drone is believed to have flown over the gas plant. The incident happened at the same time as a yacht owned by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska was in the area, Tidens Krav reported.

Attention to unusual shipping activity has increased following acts of sabotage against underwater infrastructure. A Chinese ship is now investigated by Danish and Swedish police following the recent damage to two fiberoptic cables in the Baltic Sea.

In 2023, the Chinese-Russian ship Newnew Polar Bear is believed to have damaged the Balticconnector gas pipeline, as well as two communication cables in the Baltic Sea. Following the sabotage acts, the ship quickly escaped to Russian Arctic waters , and it returned to China via the Northern Sea Route.

Located in Kirkenes, Norway, just a few kilometres from the borders to Russia and Finland, the Barents Observer is dedicated to cross-border journalism in Scandinavia, Russia and the wider Arctic.

As a non-profit stock company that is fully owned by its reporters, its editorial decisions are free of regional, national or private-sector influence. It has been a partner to ABJ and its predecessors since 2016.