©Daniel Schuh via Unsplash
Russia's FSB security service said on Monday it had foiled an attempted "terrorist attack" after agents said they had discovered magnetic explosives attached to the hull of a tanker that had arrived from Belgium and was docked for loading at the northwestern port of Ust-Luga.
The Russian security service FSB reports that several magnetic mines were found on a tanker in the port of Ust-Luga, in Russia's Leningrad region. The ship came from the port of Antwerp. The ship should have then sailed to the Turkish port of Samsun. This was reported by Interfax news agency .
According to the Russian news agency, the magnetic mines were found on the hull of the tanker Arrhenius, which had arrived from the port of Antwerp to load liquefied petroleum gas.
"Divers discovered strange magnetic objects attached near the engine room that showed signs of explosive devices," the FSB said in a statement distributed by state news agencies.
According to ship tracking data from LSEG, the tanker is sailing under the Liberian flag and is managed by Maple Mariner Holding in the United Arab Emirates.
According to Russia, the mines were produced in a NATO country. Where exactly they were made is not yet clear.
According to the FSB, "the amount of plastic explosives in each device was about 7 kilograms," although the service did not say how many explosives were found in total.
"During the interrogation of the ship's captain, it was established that prior to unloading in the Belgian port of Antwerp, the ship's agent had sent the ship to an anchorage, where it remained for about a day and a half, allegedly due to a strike by port workers," the FSB statement said.
Russia is opening an investigation into a terror attempt in response to the find. Russian officials confirmed this to the state news agency TASS.
The Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said the explosives were defused by FSB personnel in cooperation with the Defense Ministry and the National Guard (Rosgvardiya).
In an FSB video released later on Monday, the harbor master of the seaport of Ust-Luga, Igor Malofeev, said that "all crew members of the gas tanker remain on board. The crew and ship are ready to begin loading operations."
©Daniel Schuh via Unsplash - illustration image of a gas tanker at sea