Russian ‘research’ ship sails close to Shetland after undersea cables were mysteriously cut
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A Russian ‘research ship’ sailed close to Shetland after submarine cables were mysteriously severed – as engineers compete to restore internet and telephone communications.
Research vessel Akademik Boris Petrov passed through the Shetland-Orkney Gap on the afternoon of October 21, a day after the southern submarine cable between the island and the mainland was severed and the power went out.
At 6:00 PM on October 21, the ship was spotted north of the Noup Head lighthouse and proceeded to a passage through Minches.
According to the Additional shipping forecast: blog moved the Dutch warship Hr. Ms. Tromp that same day to a position northeast of the Isle of Lewis.
They added that the warship was likely positioned there to intercept and escort Akademik Boris Petrov as it proceeded into the sensitive waters of the UK.
The underwater surveillance and intelligence-gathering vessel is a “vessel of interest” to Western Marines.
The blog referred to the research vessel’s transit as “strategic messages” to the UK amid increased interest and sensitivity to underwater infrastructure due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Akademik Boris Petrov traveled through the Shetland-Orkney Gap on the afternoon of October 21, a day after the southern submarine cable between the island and the mainland was cut and the power went out
According to the Auxiliary Shipping Forecast blog, the Dutch warship Hr. Ms. Tromp moved to a position northeast of the Isle of Lewis that same day. They added that the warship was likely positioned there to intercept and escort Akademik Boris Petrov as it proceeded into the sensitive waters of the UK. Pictured: The Shetland Islands
Akademik Boris Petrov has now continued his journey to Brazil. The ship had left Kaliningrad on October 17 for the expedition.
The original route was to see it enter the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel.
But after it left, the Skagerrak changed its route. The blog added that the change of route was a likely plot to “increase tensions” in the northern islands.
After the Skagerrak it went along underwater infrastructure in the North Sea.
The blog added that in August 2021, the waters off Ireland’s northwest were likely guarded by a spy ship called ‘Yantar’. Pictured: Yantar in 2017
It was also planned to proceed through sensitive waters off the Faslane Naval base, which is where the UK’s deterrent to nuclear submarines is.
The route would also pass through the waters of North West Ireland. Critical transatlantic infrastructure is maintained in these waters.
The blog added that this area was likely to be guarded by a spy ship called “Yantar” in August 2021.
Yantar is owned by Russia’s Chief Directorate of Deep Sea Research (GUGI) and the Irish Navy has responded to the ship.
Meanwhile, telephone and internet services were restored in Shetland yesterday using a ‘temporary solution’.
It came after the outage on Thursday that caused chaos on the island, with police declaring a major incident and patrolling to reassure residents.
People were warned not to try to make non-urgent calls and to check on elderly or vulnerable neighbors as emergency centers may not work.
Nicola Sturgeon had declared the situation an ’emergency’ for the island.
And the outage also came after a cable between Shetland and Faroe Islands was damaged last week.
Meanwhile, in Shetland, photo, telephone and internet services were restored yesterday using a ‘temporary solution’
By this weekend, the company expects the first damaged cable to be fully repaired by Faroe Islands Telecom.
Then the subsea engineers get to work repairing the second damaged cable.
A top soldier warned in January that Russian sabotage could destroy undersea cables that supply our internet and $10 trillion in financial deals a day.
Several weeks ago, senior politicians, defense chiefs and pundits warned that Europe’s critical infrastructure is now at risk after the Nord Stream gas pipelines were blown up in an attack widely believed to have been orchestrated by Russia.
BT said: ‘While both cable connections are being repaired by submarine engineers, engineers were able to reconnect all services through a temporary solution on Thursday afternoon.
“Further testing and overnight monitoring has shown broadband services to have remained stable and we will continue to monitor this.
“As a precaution, we have specialized teams in Shetland with satellite backup links in case one of the submarine cables fails while they are being repaired.”