The deep-sea battle over the world’s data cables is heating up

An image provided by the U.K. Ministry of Defence shows a Royal Navy vessel patrolling near the Russian spy ship Yantar in November. Photo: U.K. Ministry of DefenCe/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
An image provided by the U.K. Ministry of Defence shows a Royal Navy vessel patrolling near the Russian spy ship Yantar in November. Photo: U.K. Ministry of DefenCe/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Summary

A Russian spy ship seen in U.K. waters points to continuing worries over the safety of undersea cables that link the global economy.

LONDON—For around a decade, the Russian spy ship Yantar has crossed the globe and loitered over undersea cables in what Western officials suspect is an attempt by the Kremlin to map vital arteries for the global economy running along the ocean floor.

This week, the Yantar passed through British waters, where it was tracked by two British Royal Navy ships, according to the U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey, who said he had recently changed the naval rules of engagement to allow for such a close encounter.

In November, the Yantar had encroached into British waters and floated over critical undersea cables. At the time, the British deployed patrol aircraft and ships, and surfaced a Royal Navy submarine near the Yantar to make clear the Russian vessel wasn’t welcome.

Healey told Parliament this week that the decision to track the spy ship so closely was taken deliberately for “President Putin to hear this message: We see you."

The Russian Embassy in the U.K. denied any wrongdoing Thursday. “The accusations made by the British defense establishment that Russia poses some kind of threat to the submarine communications of that country and its NATO allies are completely untenable," it said. “Russia has never made such threats."

In an increasingly fraught hybrid war between Russia and the West, undersea cables and pipelines are a soft-under belly. The length and remote location of the cables leaves them vulnerable to sabotage. Any successful attack could have a big knock-on effect. Undersea cables are vital for funneling both data and energy across the globe. According to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 99% of the world’s data is transmitted through subsea cables, including an estimated $10 trillion a day in financial transactions.

Since starting the full-blown war in Ukraine, Russia is suspected of being increasingly willing to rip these cables up to destabilize its opponents. However the alleged attacks, often in remote locations by boats that aren’t even under Russian flags, makes it hard to pin the blame.

NATO is ramping up efforts to monitor alleged attacks by Russian-linked ships. In January it announced a new mission in the Baltic Sea to provide both enhanced surveillance of undersea cables and deter any Russian actions. On Wednesday, Britain announced that it would send P-8 Poseidon submarine-hunting aircraft and spy planes to aid the continuing NATO mission.

“Russia’s use of the so-called shadow fleet poses a particular threat to the maritime and environmental security in the Baltic Sea region and globally," NATO allies said in a joint statement.

The anchor of the Eagle S tanker severed a power cable linking Finland with Estonia.

Two high-profile investigations related to suspected sabotage in the Baltics are ongoing. Finland detained a Russian shadow fleet tanker called Eagle S after its anchor severed a power cable linking the country with Estonia in December. Eight crew members have been identified as suspects but Finnish investigators haven’t been able to raise any charges related to the cutting of the cable. The ship is sailing under the flag of Cook Islands. Finnish authorities indicated that they could withhold the cargo—Russian oil—because of customs violations.

In a separate investigation, Germany is probing a Chinese ship called Yi Peng 3 that cut two data cables with its anchor late last year. After lengthy negotiations China agreed to allow European investigators to board the ship under the condition that Beijing officials would lead the investigation. German investigators including expert engineers spent over five hours on board, questioned the crew and inspected the anchor. They haven’t uncovered any evidence that would justify issuing arrest warrants. The ship has since left the Baltic and resumed normal operations.

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said that accusations that Russia damaged undersea cables in the Baltic Sea were an attempt to limit Russian oil exports and create preconditions to restrict shipping, state-run news agency TASS reported Wednesday.

Russia has suffered too: its Nord Stream 2 pipeline was blown up by operatives linked to Ukraine who used a small rented yacht for the operation.

The north Atlantic has hundreds of cables running across it. To guarantee major disruption several cables would likely have to be cut at the same time, a challenge in an ocean where the average depth is over 2 miles. That requires detailed knowledge of which cables lead to what and where they are.

The 354-foot Yantar, which has two on board mini-submarines, is part of the Kremlin’s Main Directorate for Deep-Sea Research, an elite unit of the Russian military specialized in deep-sea work. The ship is also equipped with a variety of sensors. Russia describes Yantar as an oceanic research vessel. Over the years it has been spotted near undersea cables. In 2015, it was reported by the U.S. as being seen near Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and in subsequent years near Greenland, Israel and Hawaii.

The Russian deep-sea unit, the chief directorate of deep-sea research known by its acronym GUGI in Russia, also contains the Losharik, a submarine equipped to inspect cables deep underwater, which has recently returned to action after a fire disabled it in 2019.

The waters around Britain have long been targeted. In 2022, mobile phones stopped working in Shetland Islands after an undersea cable was damaged in an attack that is suspected of being linked to Moscow. In November last year, Ireland, which is home to Alphabet-owned Google data centers, observed the Yantar near important undersea cables and sent a ship to escort her away.

Kate Vtorygina contributed to this article.

Write to Max Colchester at Max.Colchester@wsj.com and Bojan Pancevski at bojan.pancevski@wsj.com

Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
more

topics

MINT SPECIALS