KAPITAN BEKLEMISHEV

The vessel was involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 export gas pipeline, providing monitoring of the security zone around the pipe-laying vessel Fortuna. During the final stage of the pipeline’s completion (10 April– 30 August 2021), personnel from specific special units of the russian Navy (Военно-морской флот российской федерации) were observed in the area. A combined special-purpose detachment of 18 servicemen alternated aboard civilian vessels of the Maritime Rescue Service – the tug Kapitan Beklemishev and the multifunctional rescue vessels Spasatel Karev and Bakhtemir.
The members of the combined detachment were identified as belonging to certain specialised units of the russian Navy:
– a four-person group from the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research of the russian ministry of defense (Главное управление глубоководных исследований Министерства обороны российской федерации), also known as Military Unit No. 45707 – one of russia’s most classified military units, which plans and conducts special underwater operations, engages in reconnaissance on the seabed, installs various equipment, and collects wreckage of vessels, aircraft, and satellites to assess the technological level of potential adversaries; this unit is also involved in the planning and pre-deployment for large-scale sabotage operations against transatlantic fiber-optic communication lines between Europe and North America;
– a seven-person group from the 313th Separate Special-Purpose Detachment for Combating Underwater Sabotage Forces of the Baltic Fleet;
– a seven-person group from the 342nd Emergency and Rescue Detachment of the Baltic Fleet.
The heightened activity of the combined detachment was recorded within the exclusive economic zones of Denmark and Germany, in proximity to the underwater fiber-optic cables "Baltica" (linking Poland, Sweden, and Denmark) and "Denmark– Poland-2" (linking Poland with the island of Bornholm), at a distance of 2– 3 nautical miles from the pipeline route.
In August 2021, the United States imposed sanctions on the vessel for its role in facilitating the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.