Recently, NATO deployed an ATL2 maritime patrol aircraft of the French Navy in the Mediterranean Sea to monitor the research vessel Yantar of the Russian Navy, which was navigating the area. According to NATO Maritime Command, as published on its X account, “the alliance remains vigilant across the Euro-Atlantic area.”
The Yantar is one of the Project 22010 scientific research vessels of the Russian Navy in service with the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research (GUGI), being categorized as a multipurpose special ship. Nevertheless, it is also considered an intelligence-gathering platform par excellence, and even suspected of carrying out sabotage operations due to its wide array of systems and equipment. It is equipped with two types of autonomous deep-diving submersibles of the Rus and Konsul classes. It has a length of 108.1 meters, a beam of 17.2 meters, and a displacement of around 5,800 tons.
As for the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research (GUGI) under which it operates, it is one of the most secretive agencies in service within the Russian Navy, based in facilities located in Olenya Bay in the Barents Sea, which is also home to conventional and nuclear-powered submarines belonging to the Northern Fleet. For these reasons, in addition to its characteristics and capabilities, its presence in the Mediterranean is undoubtedly a cause for concern for the Atlantic alliance and a reason for deploying naval and aerial assets to monitor it in the region.
Doubts and uncertainty regarding the presence of the Yantar in the region
At the moment, the official reasons for what the Yantar was doing in that specific area are unknown. By pure coincidence or strategic decision, the vessel had officially docked in the port of Algiers days earlier before moving to the area where the merchant ship MV Ursa Mayor sank on December 23.
It is estimated that the Yantar was conducting investigations into what happened with the shipwreck, owned by the Russian company Oboronlogistics. The Ursa Mayor sank 60 nautical miles south of Cartagena after an explosion near the stern on the starboard side. Although this is the official version of the event, the company at the time claimed that the incident was the result of a terrorist attack.
Among the most relevant details—which may explain the Yantar’s presence in the area—are the items the sunken ship was transporting: specifically, reactor hatches for Russia’s Leader-class nuclear icebreaker. Technically, the Ursa Mayor was sailing toward Tartus, Russia’s naval base in Syria, while another Oboronlogistics cargo ship, the Sparta, was a day behind (the same ship that has been 16 nautical miles from Tartus since January 5 due to lacking permission to enter the port).
In light of this series of incidents in the Baltic and the Mediterranean, along with the recent presence of the Russian spy ship, NATO has chosen to increase its efforts in surveillance and control in these strategically significant areas. Similarly, the alliance’s Baltic community issued a joint statement affirming their determination to “deter, detect, and counter any sabotage attempts.”
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