NATO intelligence is tracking dozens of suspected Russian commercial fishing boats carrying out espionage missions in waters around Britain, new analysis has revealed. The vessels are reportedly mapping critical undersea cables that link the UK with Europe and the US.
Mapping Critical Infrastructure
Satellite tracking data examined by The Telegraph uncovered over 500 instances of Russian trawlers loitering suspiciously above key communication routes or following them for miles. One vessel spent 337 hours hovering over the Atlantic Crossing 1 cable north of Scotland, performing U-turns directly over the line. Another ship crossed trans-Atlantic data lifelines and the Shefa-2 cable connecting Shetland to the Faroe Islands at speeds of under two knots.
The snooping ships are using high-tech sonar and tethered underwater drones to pinpoint the exact location of deep-sea cables. A NATO source told The Telegraph: "We're absolutely aware of what Russian civilian fishing ships are up to and where ... Some of these ships have never seen a single fish on their deck."
Risk of Sabotage
Expert naval sources say the trawlers' cargo holds could easily hide uncrewed surface vehicles or deep-sea robots capable of mapping seabed cables with millimetre precision. A serving naval officer said: "If you put a sonar-equipped ROV 100 metres above a feature of interest, you can map it with millimetre precision."
Around £65 billion of UK economic activity relies on subsea cables connecting Britain to North America, yet just two lines handle three-quarters of all data capacity. Submarine boss Gen Sir Gwyn Jenkins, head of the Royal Navy, previously warned Russia could launch crippling strikes on undersea links straight away in a conflict.
Legislative Response
Ministers are now scrambling to clamp down on state-sponsored sea saboteurs with a legislative overhaul, replacing ancient Victorian laws. Under incoming security proposals, culprits targeting underwater cables face jail sentences of up to 14 years and unlimited fines, with ministers debating whether to increase maximum sentences to life imprisonment.
Telecoms minister Ian Murray admitted new laws won't stop the Kremlin directly, but hopes it will smash their reliance. He said: "We've been pretty clear, and the head of MI5 has been pretty clear, that Russia is starting to use commercial proxies in order to do some of their work for them in that space. But what it will do, hopefully, is deter some of those commercial proxies that might be doing the work for hostile state actors."
Russian State Involvement
Russian state law already allows Putin's FSB intelligence agency to draft civilian trawlers for military tasks, compensating owners for clandestine peacetime operations. Russian fishing giants Norebo and Murman Seafood have already been slapped with EU sanctions over alleged spying, though both firms fiercely deny any wrongdoing.
Defiant Royal Navy chiefs insisted troops are keeping a close watch on Moscow's undercover fleet. A Royal Navy source said: "We're clearly watching Russia, watching what they're doing for the security of the nation. We are actively monitoring them at sea."
