UK leads new force tracking Russian “Shadow Fleet” with AI

The UK is leading a new operation dubbed “Nordic Warden” to track Russian ships and members of its “shadow fleet” amid concerns over the potential ongoing risk they pose to subsea internet and electricity cables.

The Nordic Warden force “harnesses AI to assess data from a range of sources, including the Automatic Identification System (AIS) ships use to broadcast their position, to calculate the risk posed by each vessel entering areas of interest” the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) said.

The JEF was established in 2014 at the NATO Summit by the UK and six other countries. It now has 10 members. The UK describes it as “a pool of high readiness, adaptable forces that is designed to enhance the UK’s ability to respond rapidly, anywhere in the world, with like-minded allies, or on behalf of international organisations such as the UN or NATO.”

Nordic Warden’s launch follows damage on Christmas Day to the Estlink2 power cable in the Baltic, which authorities in Finland said may have been caused by an oil tanker that allegedly forms part of Russia’s shadow fleet of vessels it uses to attempt to bypass international sanctions.

On Friday the Helsinki District Court upheld a decision by Finland to detain the Eagle S oil tanker, which is suspected of breaking EstLink 2 and several communication cables, rejecting appeals from the ship-owner.

The tanker's seizure was requested by three Finnish companies, Fingrid, telco Elisa, and state-owned network company Cinia, along with Estonian power firm Elering, to secure compensation for the costs of repairing the damaged power and internet cables. This week Swedish armed forces meanwhile recovered the ship’s anchor from the seabed. According to local reports, Finnish authorities said marks suggested that the ship’s anchor was dragged for almost 100 kilometres along the sea floor.

The owner of the Eagle S, United Arab Emirates-based Caravella LLC FZ, has argued that the seizure of the ship and its cargo is illegal.