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A cargo ship currently sailing in the Baltic Sea towards Vaasa [in Finland] has caught the attention of European security services.

The HAV Dolphin, sailing under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, is expected to arrive in the Finnish port city of Vaasa on Thursday morning, according to the shipping tracker Vessel Finder. Security services in Germany and the Netherlands suspect the vessel may have acted as a support ship for Russian surveillance drones.

The ship’s movements have puzzled authorities. After departing the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad in early May, it anchored for eight days off Kiel in northern Germany — an unusually long and irregular stop for a commercial vessel.

During that same period, multiple drone sightings were reported near the German Navy’s submarine base at Eckernförde [in Germany].

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German police inspected the HAV Dolphin, followed later by Dutch police in Rotterdam, but no suspicious materials were found. Investigators did note the vessel had been travelling unusually slowly, which could suggest surveillance activity. Its crew was identified as Russian.

The ship is now en route to Vaasa from Antwerp.

Janne Pylkkönen, CEO of the port operator Kvarken Ports, said the vessel does not currently require any special measures at Vaasa’s harbour.

“That is our monitoring. The authorities have their own,” he said, referring to the port’s 24-hour surveillance.

He added that at the moment the port operator is closely monitoring the situation. If necessary, the authorities will instruct the company on how to deal with the ship’s arrival.

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