Thursday, October 19, 2023

"Russian, Chinese ships spotlighted by Finnish police after pipeline damage, are now pairing up outside northern Norway"

 From The Barents Observer, October 18:

The Sevmorput and Newnew Polar Bear sailed over the Balticconnector and the telecom cable in pair at the time the damage occurred. Now, they are following each other outside northern Norway, en route to Asia via the northern coast of Siberia. 

Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation said in a statement on Tuesday it had launched an investigation on specific vessels that sailed in the area during the gas pipeline incident on October 7.

Two ships are mentioned by name; the Russian Rosatomflot-operated Sevmorput and the Chinese container carrier Newnew Polar Bear.

“The vessels in the area at the time of the incident have been established from open sources. Investigation measures have been focused on several vessels, such as Newnew Polarbear and Sevmorput, but also on others which according to data have been in the area at the time of the damage,” states Detective Superintendent Risto Lohi from the National Bureau of Investigation.

“In addition to the movements of the ships, their backgrounds and previous activities are investigated, in cooperation with the authorities of other states,” Lohi added.

A playback of shipping data for October 7 is shown in the tweet below.

The two ships were then heading towards St. Petersburg. On the 11 and 13 of October, they departed on a return voyage heading north towards the Europe-Asia shortcut via the Arctic.

By Wednesday morning, the Sevmorput and Newnew Polar Bear are crossing the Arctic Circle outside northern Norway. The Chinese vessel is a few hours behind the Russian....

....MUCH MORE

Also in High North hijinks, gCaptain October 18:

Norwegian Navy Shadows Chinese Ship ID’d in Baltic Pipeline Damage Probe

Previously on the Sevmorput:
November 2021
The World's Only Nuclear Powered Container Ship Is Back In Port After Only Two Months In The Arctic
There's something up with this ship, probably military maybe doomsday torpedoes or something. Thanks to The Barents Observer we've been following its travels for a few years, some links below.
November 2020
These Are The Voyages Of The Nuclear-Powered Container Ship "Sevmorput": Currently Stranded Off Angola
October 2020
"Zig-zag pattern. Reduced speed. A Russian nuclear-powered cargo ship steaming outside Africa towards Antarctic attracts attention"
I admit it, I am obsessed with this weird-a** ship.
February 2020
Shipping: This Is Just Weird—Russia's Nuclear Powered Container Ship Going To Antarctica
We've looked at this ship a few times and can't figure out what the Russians are up to.
And now Antarctica? In winter?

Cold's a'comin and even the icebreakers, the American Polar Star, heading for home port and China's Xuelong 2 , currently dropping off supplies for a couple of their southern research stations are wrapping up the season.
Or will it sail in six months? If so why advertise the voyage now?

September 3, 2019
"The Nuclear Powered Container Ship Sevmorput Is Going to Haul Salmon Along the Northern Sea Route (and Norway and Denmark)"

This is an odd story. First off the Sevmorput is old. It went into service in 1988.
Secondly, although I haven't asked about the costs, you would have to assume a nuclear cargo ship would have to carry some high value cargo to pay the freight, so to speak.

Last March the ship was carrying construction materials and equipment from Archangel to Novatek's LNG 2 project off the Ob river and we were going to do a post on this oddball ship and its five day trip.
That at least made sense: high-value cargo short distance, entirely within Russian waters....
September 11, 2019
"Norway Would Like To Know If Russia Plans To Make More Salmon Hauling Trips With Their Nuclear Container Ship":
....If only there was some sort of land based transportation mode that could make the trip, something that crossed Siberia, Trans-Siberian if you will, that was comprised of individual cars that could be hooked up in train.  And get the damn salmon to Moscow in days not weeks.

Maybe put 'em on a boat in Petropavlovsk and sail them across the Sea of Okhotsk to Sovetskaya Gavan, whose harbormasters are (reputedly) eminently bribable and will speed your multi-modal perishables on their way west to wind up in some fat mafioso's belly. Ditto for Vladivostok but you'll need to wave a bit more cash to get anyone's attention.
November 11, 2019 
Russian Plan For Second Salmon Hauling Voyage With Their Nuclear-Powered Container Ship Cancelled
Ya think?
They were transporting fish on a nuclear powered ship.
The long way. (vs land transport):
Seriously what are the Russians up to with this?
 
I'm starting to think this is some sort of Bond-villain caper, with the propeller story just a ruse to cover for the fine-tuning of the under-hull submarine docking chamber.
Or something.

Maybe it's related to the submarine disaster last July that killed 14 high ranking officers (captains and commanders).
We had quite a few links to that Russian oddity:
Just What Was That Stricken Russian Submarine Carrying?

Tragedy at Sea: The Russian Submariners Could Have Been Saved
Still unanswered are the two questions raised almost immediately after the July 1 incident:
1) What were so many senior officers practicing on the deep-diving submersible?
2) Why did the "High Ranking Military Official" say at the funeral service:
“Today we are seeing off the crew of a research deep water apparatus, who died while performing a combat mission in the cold waters of the Barents Sea. Fourteen dead, 14 lives,” he is quoted as saying. “At the cost of their lives, they saved the lives of their comrades, saved the ship, did not allow a planetary catastrophe.”
So who knows?
Posted by at