The attention of the student journalists was attracted by two cargo ships — HAV “Dolphin” and HAV “Snapper”.
The first maneuvered for a long time in the Kiel Bay in northern Germany (in the Baltic Sea), while HAV “Snapper” simply stood at one point in the open North Sea near the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog for several days. This behavior is atypical for cargo ships, they usually do not just stand in the bay for days or weeks. Their task is to transport cargo from port to port, saving time and fuel.
In addition to the strange behavior of the ships, there was another clue: the time when the ships made suspicious maneuvers coincided with the appearance of drones over military facilities. This led journalists to believe that the movements of the ships and the flights of the drones could be connected.
For example, the HAV “Dolphin” spent several days circling in a narrow area about 25 kilometers from the defense shipyards in the Bay of Kiel, during which time swarms of drones were spotted over the facilities three times.
Meanwhile, the HAV “Snapper” entered the North Sea and took up position near the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog. A few hours later, drones were also spotted over the Russian cargo ship Lauga, which was traveling the same route under escort by a German police vessel, and the police reported their presence.
«Babel'»
What is known about the HAV “Dolphin”.
The HAV “Dolphin” is a cargo ship flying the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, owned by the Norwegian company HAV “Shipping”. From March to the end of April 2025, it was at the “Pregol” shipyard in Kaliningrad for almost a month, which has documented ties to the Russian military and “Rosatom”, the Russian state nuclear corporation involved in nuclear energy and maritime projects, including Arctic expeditions.
Cargo ship HAV “Dolphin”.
The HAV “Dolphin” then sailed to the Kiel Bay, which is located in northern Germany and opens into the Baltic Sea. From May 1 to 10, the ship remained in one area almost the entire time, maneuvering only slightly. It was during this period that swarms of drones were spotted several times over the local defense shipyards. Journalists noted that the drones were probably flying from the Baltic Sea side, where the ship was located.
The HAV “Dolphin” was inspected three times by German and Dutch authorities, and nothing was ever found. However, according to security sources, the inspections were “superficial” and “symbolic”, and not all containers were opened.
During one of the inspections, an additional officer of the watch was found on board, behaving suspiciously. The captain explained his presence as a training exercise. The ship’s crew was entirely Russian.
Another incident occurred in early June: a drone flew over a naval radio station between Ramsloh and Rauderfen, which is used to communicate with German submarines and NATO ships. At the same time, the HAV “Dolphin” had been anchored for three days 70 kilometers away, at the mouth of the Ems River.
A similar story with HAV “Snapper”, another cargo ship of the Norwegian company HAV “Shipping”, flying the flag of the Bahamas. In 2023, it was serviced at the same ship repair yard "Pregol" in Kaliningrad.
Cargo ship HAV “Snapper”.
vesselfinder.com
On the evening of May 16, 2025, the HAV “Snapper” took up position near the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog in the North Sea. This happened two hours before seven drones were spotted over the Russian cargo ship Lauga, which was sailing in the same sea at the time under escort by the German police ship Potsdam.
The ship was later searched by Belgian customs in the port of Zeebrugge: all eleven crew members, all Russian citizens, were checked. No drones were found on board.
Previous voyages of the Lauga show that the ship has called at the Russian naval base in Tartus, Syria, the only Russian base in the Mediterranean where submarines are moored. After inspections in Belgium, the Lauga docked in St. Petersburg at the Petrolesport terminal, which is partly owned by “Rosatom”. The owner of the Lauga, Idan Shipping Company, has close commercial ties with the Russian state nuclear corporation.
«Babel'»
During the investigation, the journalists kept coming across the same name — “Rosatom”.
They found a presentation of the corporation for 2024, which showed a drone standing on the helipad of a large Russian icebreaker.
The presentation clearly states: the drone has a flight range of at least 200 kilometers and can take off and land directly on a ship. That is, it does not need an airfield, a ship at sea is enough.
Officially, “Rosatom” uses such drones to monitor shipping in the Arctic. But the North and Baltic Seas have much easier flight conditions than the Arctic. And journalists saw key similarities in this.
Drone featured in “Rosatom” presentation.
digitaldigging.org
The journalists decided to see one of the ships live — namely the HAV
“Dolphin”.
They tracked the ship to a French port on the Atlantic coast, and the port administration confirmed to the journalists that the ship would be there until the evening. The students urgently flew to Paris, took a car and drove five hours to the sea. But when they arrived, the ship had already disappeared.
Then the chase began. Over the course of several days, they traveled about 2 500 kilometers — from France through the Netherlands to Belgium, constantly trying to catch up with the HAV Dolphin. The ship behaved strangely: it suddenly left ports, then slowed down, then accelerated sharply, changed or completely removed its destination from the navigation data.
At some point, the ship stopped on a sandbar off the Belgian coast near Ostend, and then began circling in the sea — about 25 kilometers from the coast, right next to a Belgian military base. It was there that journalists managed to catch up with it.
Journalists filmed the HAV “Dolphin” with their own drone and confirmed that it was an ordinary-looking cargo ship. At the same time, German security services established that the entire crew was Russian sailors.
Seven student journalists who conducted the investigation.
digitaldigging.org
The team of journalists counted 19 time and geographical coincidences between the appearance of the drones and the location of the ships. HAV “Shipping” denies everything. CEO Petter Kleppan stated that the company has no Russian clients and does not receive income from Russia.
In response to journalistsʼ inquiries, representatives of European intelligence agencies reported that they consider the HAV “Snapper” and HAV “Dolphin” to be "vessels that are highly likely to act in the interests of Russia".
The German Interior Ministry confirmed that there is every reason to suspect the participation of foreign state structures in some of the UAV flights.