Russian Landing Ship Aleksandr Shabalin Blocks Shipping Route Near Germany

The Russian Baltic Fleet’s large landing ship Aleksandr Shabalin anchored near the entrance to Lübeck Bay, close to the German coast.

Kieler Nachrichten reported on this.

According to journalists, the ship arrived in the area on October 19 and dropped anchor in such a way that it ended up blocking the route of merchant vessels traveling through the Fehmarn Belt Strait from the Baltic Sea to the North Sea.

The Russian landing ship is clearly visible from the German island of Fehmarn.

German patrol boat Bamberg and a Danish patrol vessel are monitoring the ship.

To strengthen monitoring, the German navy dispatched the auxiliary ship Werra from Kiel.

The German police noted that Aleksandr Shabalin is outside the country’s territorial waters, and therefore does not violate national law or international navigation regulations.

According to Kieler Nachrichten, the presence of Russian military ships near Fehmarn is creating difficulties for fishermen and scientific missions in the region.

In particular, the research vessels Alkor and Littorina from Kiel had to alter their routes to avoid close contact with the Russian military ships.
It should be pointed out that the drone incident over Denmark is preliminarily linked to the same ship.

At that time, Aleksandr Shabalin was near Copenhagen with its identification system turned off.

Observers estimate that the presence of the Russian landing ship near the German coast could be part of preparations for hybrid operations or reconnaissance in the Baltic Sea area.