GPS glitches in Baltic: Russia accused of shadow fleet tactics

The Finnish Coast Guard reported on Thursday a new phenomenon observed in the Baltic Sea. It involves the falsification of location data. According to Reuters, there are increasing reports of disruptions in GPS and GNSS positioning. There have been instances where the Finnish Coast Guard advises vessels against navigating near islands or shallow waters.

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen and her colleague, Minister of the Interior Lulu Ranne, believe that Russia is responsible for this activity. This is further confirmed by Pekka Niittyla from the Gulf of Finland Coast Guard, who noted that tankers heading to Russian ports near St. Petersburg are falsifying their position data. He stated that this is a completely new phenomenon, aimed at avoiding sanctions and related consequences.

The Russian ships in question are referred to as the shadow fleet. They transport crude oil, which is under sanctions due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Many of these are old tankers delivering oil to buyers willing to pay more than the set maximum price of €55 per barrel.

If the receiving country wants to conceal that the raw material originates from Russia, the Automatic Identification System (AIS) devices in maritime transport are deliberately disabled, allowing location data to be falsified - claims Pekka Niittyla.

The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency has previously reported that the number of GPS reception disturbances this year is several times higher than in previous years (in the first half of the year, Finnish air traffic operators reported over a thousand such incidents, with even more reported by foreign operators). Additionally, a lead indicating Russia's deliberate action is the fact that they possess systems and bases for conducting electronic warfare located in the Gulf of Finland and the southern part of the Baltic. The Russians also use their own satellite navigation system, Glonass.