A Finnish border guard and his dog patrol the Finnish-Russian border near Hoilola village, Finland, in June 2024. REUTERS
THE WATCH STAFF
Finland’s Coast Guard has detected an increase in the jamming of satellite positions in the Gulf of Finland, causing ships to veer off course, endangering lives and cargo. The GPS jamming tactics likely are being deployed by ships trying to avoid detection while violating international sanctions placed on Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The Finnish Coast Guard has had to warn vessels in danger of running aground because of jammed GPS signals. The activity has increased rapidly since April 2024 and affects vessels’ electronic navigation systems. “In recent weeks, we have also observed that (AIS) devices have been intentionally turned off, and thus the location information has been spoofed in online location systems … so that an incorrect location is shown for the vessel,” Gulf of Finland Coast Guard Cmdr. Pekka Niittyla told Reuters.
Called shadow fleets, the ships use spoofing techniques to disguise their locations when they visit Russian ports, Niittyla said. The Finnish Coast Guard has encountered at least 10 instances of ships using these techniques. “Based on our assessment, this is related to the evasion of sanctions or their consequences,” he said. “For example, if a country buying Russian oil does not want to reveal that the oil was purchased from Russia, the seller or vessel might use spoofing to make it seem like the vessel had not visited Russia.”
Earlier in October 2024, Finland’s Transport, Communications and Interior Minister Lulu Ranne criticized Russia for interfering with navigation systems, a charge denied by Moscow. The Finnish Coast Guard believes that Russia also might be jamming GPS signals to protect its ports on the eastern end of the Gulf of Finland from Ukrainian attacks, Finnish national broadcaster Yle reported.
The aging ships comprising the shadow fleet aren’t bound by international maritime safety and environmental regulation, raising fears that an oil spill or some other ecologically catastrophic event could wreak havoc on the fragile Arctic ecosystem, Reuters reported. The spoofing tactics also undermine the war sanctions, especially on Russian oil. Black market oil purchases bolster Russia’s war effort and dim the effectiveness of billions of dollars of equipment and arms sent by NATO to support Ukraine. A Russian victory would damage the security of the alliance’s member nations, especially on NATO’s eastern and northern flanks.
Finland, which throughout the Cold War pursued a policy of nonalignment, abandoned that stance after the Russian invasion and joined NATO in 2023. Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened publicly to retaliate for Finland’s decision to join NATO. Since then, Russian border authorities have transported large groups of illegal migrants to the Finnish border in what Helsinki has termed “hybrid warfare.” Concerns about border security prompted the Finnish government to close its 1,340-kilometer border with Russia, the longest in Europe. In particular, the Gulf of Finland has been a tense point in the relations between Russia and its NATO neighbors. In May 2024, Russia proposed revising the maritime boundaries in the Gulf of Finland to create a larger buffer for itself in the eastern part of the gulf. Russia later withdrew the proposal without explanation after Western criticism, according to Politico.