All electronics fail; a Russian?

Earlier, we reported on GPS malfunctions, presumably caused by Russian transmitters. A Danish fishing cutter was ‘attacked’ by a Russian tug.

All electronics on board the Danish cutter L-237 Dorte Rixen failed after a Russian tug ‘with incredible antennas on board’ passed them. The incident happened last week when the vessel was fishing in the Skagerrak 50 miles off Thyborøn. A military helicopter was also spotted in the sky at the time.

Skipper and owner Jens Søndergaard from Struer tells TV Midtvest: ‘The electronics on board suddenly failed and all the screens started flashing. I wonder if maybe the disruption of the electronics was aimed at the helicopter.’

The skipper heard from other fishermen in the Kattegat and the Baltic that they too had experienced something similar. When the tug was about 500 metres away, the cutter’s electronics started working again, except for the two radars.

Søndergaard was forced to sail back to its home port of Thyborøn, mainly because night sailing without radar can be dangerous in this area. The radars are still not working properly, Søndergaard said. The mishap cost him several days of fishing leave.

Source & image: Bram Pronk in the Schuttevaer (subscribers only).

See also: Doubts about GPS reliability

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