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Germany investigates drone flights over industrial park

August 22, 2024

Prosecutors in northern Germany cited "the suspicion of espionage activity for sabotage purposes" when confirming the probe. This follows "repeated" drone flights over "critical infrastructure."

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A gas tanker brings LNG gas to the floating LNG terminal in Brunsbüttel in northern Germany. July 30, 2024.
This floating LNG terminal is probably the most famous, and geopolitcally sensitive, new construction in the Brunsbüttel harbor area Image: ABBfoto/picture alliance

Investigators in northern Germany confirmed on Thursday that they were investigating suspicious drone activity over an industrial park in Brunsbüttel, following media reports about the case.

"The Flensburg public prosecutors office confirms the launching of an investigation due to the suspicion of espionage activity for sabotage purposes, in connection with repeated drone flights over critical infrastructure in Schleswig-Holstein," a spokesman for prosecutors in nearby Flensburg told the AFP news agency, issuing similar comments to others.

An aerial photo of the ChemCoastPark industrial park near Brunsbüttel's harbor area. Undated archive image.
Various chemicals companies operate out of the ChemCoastPark industrial park in the port cityImage: C. Kaiser/blickwinkel/picture alliance

Coastal industrial park, and site of LNG terminal designed to help replace Russian gas

The industrial park around the harbor in Brunsbüttel, northwest of Hamburg near the mouth of the River Elbe where it enters the North Sea, is home to a new floating liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal.

This was set up with government support in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and amid Germany's hurried efforts to source energy imports from elsewhere. Plans are in place to replace it with a permanent facility at the same site. 

The area houses several chemicals companies and a decommissioned nuclear power plant that's being dismantled after it was shut off in 2011. 

It's also the entry point to the Kiel Canal, or Nord-Ostsee Kanal in German, that links the North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic Sea at Kiel-Holtenau, used by roughly 30,000 ships per year.

The entry point to the western end of the Kiel Canal or Nord-Ostsee Kanal in Brunsbüttel, pictured from above on July 30,, 2024.
Commercial vessels trying to reach northeastern Germany via the North Sea can cut several hundred kilometers off their journey by using the Kiel Canal and entering the waterway in BrunsbüttelImage: ABBfoto/picture alliance

Prior reports suggest police suspect military drone activity

Prior to Thursday's limited comments from prosecutors in Flensburg, two of Germany's most-read news outlets, Bild and Spiegel, had both reported on the case. 

They said repeated drone flights over the area had been observed since August 8. 

The reports cited police specialists as theorizing that the drones, with high flight speeds, could be Russian military espionage vehicles. 

Spiegel reported that police drones, which tried to follow the mystery observers back out to sea, could not match flight speeds in the region of 100 kilometers per hour (around 60 miles per hour). As a result, police had reportedly turned to the Bundeswehr military for help. 

A spokesman for the German Defense Ministry told the German news agency DPA on Thursday that the Bundeswehr had been providing radar and other data to police, so they could better investigate the case. 

Germany has been on alert about potential Russian espionage or even sabotage in recent months, which was most visible recently with a series of security scares at Bundeswehr and NATO military facilities in the country. These led to an investigation, but then also to authorities issuing the all-clear.

Rügen residents protest LNG terminal growth in Baltic Sea

msh/ab (AFP, dpa, Reuters)