WARSAW (Reuters) -The Polish army on Tuesday denied a media report saying that a Russian “shadow fleet” ship had been seen circling over the Baltic Pipe subsea pipeline.A report by Polish state broadcaster TVP World, citing a foreign ministry source, said a Russian shadow fleet ship had been seen circling around the pipeline that delivers gas from Norway to Poland.
“In reference to the reports appearing in the media today about a ship of the Russian ‘shadow fleet’ circling near the Polish Baltic Pipe gas pipeline, the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces does not confirm this information – the described incident did not happen,” the army said in a post on X.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Pawel Wronski told Reuters he had no information regarding the report.
Gaz System, which operates the Polish section of the pipeline, said the link supplying gas from Norway was operating without disruptions.
Several incidents have taken place in the Baltic Sea since 2022 in which underwater critical infrastructure has suffered suspicious damage. Baltic Sea nations are on high alert and NATO has said it will boost its presence in the area.
The term shadow fleet refers to vessels used by Russia to move oil, arms and grains around in violation of international sanctions imposed on it over the Ukraine war. The vessels are not regulated or insured by conventional Western providers.
NATO countries will deploy frigates, patrol aircraft and naval drones in the Baltic Sea to help protect critical infrastructure and reserve the right to take action against ships suspected of posing a security threat, alliance members said on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Karol Badohal, Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Ros Russell)
