At night, Kalle Juriska and Aarne Vaik see them as small glowing dots on the horizon: the ships of the Russian "shadow fleet". The two men live in the village of Kesmu on the Estonian northern coast and go ashore almost every day to watch the dark shadows drifting across the Baltic Sea. They appeared suddenly a few years ago, the Estonians tell ARD.
The sight worries them because the cargo ships make them feel the war in Ukraine very close. "It's worrying because something could happen at any moment," Juriska tells the German public-law media.
"We realized that these are Putin's oil tankers"
Vaik is the director of the maritime museum right on the coast. He has lived in Kesmu for 30 years and has always been interested in shipping. Juriska, on the other hand, was a long-time sea captain.
The two were very puzzled when they first saw the suspicious silhouettes on the horizon, Vaik recalls. "We looked into the matter and found out that these were Putin's oil tankers," he says.
A thousand ships "in the shadow"
It is believed that up to a thousand ships from the Russian "shadow fleet" traveled through the Baltic Sea last year - under exotic, frequently changing flags. Their owners want to remain hidden, ARD further points out.
Estonian security expert Marek Kov works at the International Center for Defense and Security in Tallinn and has been observing this phenomenon for a long time. "Countries use shadow fleets when they are under sanctions and cannot trade under normal conditions", he explains. According to him, these ships have a very complex ownership structure, which is why it is very difficult to establish whose they are.
Kov is adamant that the Russian "shadow fleet" has grown a lot since the start of the war in Ukraine. Despite EU sanctions, Russia continues to export oil, for example to China and India.
But tankers are time bombs. "The biggest problem is the environmental hazards", says Kov. "These ships are old, they are not maintained and leaks are a common occurrence", adds the Estonian expert.
On Friday, one such tanker was found off the coast of the island of Rügen - completely uncontrollable. The ship, loaded with 99,000 tons of oil, is most likely from the Russian "shadow fleet". For the time being, the tanker named "Eventin" is anchored about five kilometers from the coast, after being brought there by two tugboats. The ship flies under the flag of Panama and will remain there until a further decision is made. It is not yet clear when and where it will be repaired, what will happen to its cargo and the 24-member crew.
They are also used for sabotage
In addition, ships are increasingly being used to sabotage critical infrastructure. This was the case, for example, with the damaged "Estlink 2" power line between Finland and Estonia in the days around Christmas. Finland exports electricity to the Baltic state via it, and the interrupted supplies have led to new, higher electricity prices for consumers.
Finnish investigators reacted immediately and stopped a ship that was allegedly near the cable when it was damaged - the "Eagle S". The tanker was flying the flag of the Cook Islands, but authorities are certain that it belongs to the "shadow fleet" and damaged the cable with its anchor, which was dragged along the bottom for more than 100 kilometers.
Marek Kov tells ARD that this was done intentionally, as it is impossible for the ship's captain not to have noticed. Eight crew members of the detained Russian ship are suspected of sabotage.
Europe is particularly vulnerable in the Baltic Sea
Meanwhile, the network operator Elering in the Estonian capital Tallinn is struggling with the consequences of the cable damage. Repairs could take up to eight months.
The head of the repair work, Hannes Kont, warns against underestimating the incident. "If cables can be destroyed as easily as "Estlink 2", then we definitely have a problem - not only us, but the whole of Europe," Kont notes. "Because whether it is about communications or energy, we rely on the connections between our countries."
But how can the countless cables on the seabed be better protected? NATO wants to strengthen its military presence in the Baltic Sea, including using underwater drones. Europe is particularly vulnerable in the Baltic Sea and surveillance is essential.
"They want to cut us off from the world"
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo is proud that local authorities have managed to stop the ship believed to be responsible for the damage. He calls for even closer cooperation between Baltic Sea countries, but believes that both the EU and NATO have a role to play. "We need to decide how we can better protect the sea militarily - together with our NATO allies."
In the Estonian village of Käsmu, Aarne Vaik and Kalle Juriska do not have much hope that the ships of the "shadow fleet" will soon disappear from their sight. "Things will get worse. They will not give up. They want to cut us off from the world," Juriska is certain.
"What we are seeing is a war in our immediate vicinity," Aarne Vaik says in turn in the ARD report.