Russian reconnaissance ship pursued Norwegian ship for 18 hours, NRK announced details

The ship “Yantar” pursued a Norwegian ship for 18 hours / Illustrative collage 24 Channel

The day before it became known that the Norwegian research vessel Kronprins Haakon was harassed in the Arctic Ocean. It was followed for 18 hours by the Russian reconnaissance ship Yantar.

It is known that the corresponding incident occurred on September 11 in the Farma Strait between Greenland and Spitsbergen. Please note that the ship “Yantar” belongs to the Russian Navy. According to media reports, it is used for reconnaissance. True, the aggressor country denies this.

“Yantar” pursued a Norwegian ship

In fact, at some point a Russian ship was detected on the radar of a Norwegian ship. Moreover, he was at a distance of 370 meters. Another report indicates that the Yantar even approached as close as 200 meters.

At the same time, Hallgeir Magne Johansen, the captain of the Norwegian ship, decided to contact the Russians. His goal is to ask why they are swimming so close and ask them to maintain a safe distance. It is interesting that the Yantar crew did not respond immediately. He said they were “curious to see how the Norwegians perform operations.”

Interestingly, every time the Norwegian ship stopped and started, the Russian ship did the same. This happened over the course of 18 hours.

There is no explanation why they would follow us, stop where we stop, or be so close to us on the open sea. I can’t find any other explanation other than that this is an attempt to provoke us or the coast guard,” said captain Kronprins Haakon.

Only after almost a day of surveillance, the Yantar finally increased the distance with the Norwegian ship and sailed.

Note that during these 18 hours , several ministries were informed about the strange behavior of the Russian ship. In particular, the defense department and security service were notified. True, they all agree that the Yantar complied with the rules of navigation in international waters.

At the same time, the speaker of the Norwegian Armed Forces, Lieutenant Colonel Vegard Norstad Finberg, noted that the coast guard was nearby throughout the entire time. He noted that the Russian ship did not interfere with the Norwegians either physically or electrically. Therefore, they could further carry out research activities.