Russia’s FSB security service said Monday that it thwarted an attempted “terrorist attack” after its agents allegedly discovered magnetic explosives attached to the hull of a tanker ship that had arrived from Belgium and docked for loading at the northwestern port of Ust-Luga.
“Divers discovered foreign magnetic objects attached near the engine room that showed signs of being explosive devices,” the FSB said in a statement carried by state news agencies.
The law enforcement body said the ship, identified as the Arrhenius, arrived from Antwerp and was expected to depart for the Turkish port of Samsun after completing loading at Ust-Luga, which is located in the Leningrad region.
Ship tracking data shows that the Arrhenius is a Liberia-flagged liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker
According to the FSB, “the mass of plastic explosive in each device was approximately 7 kilograms [15 pounds],” though it did not say how many explosives in total were recovered.
“During questioning of the ship’s captain, it was established that prior to unloading at the Belgian port of Antwerp, the ship was sent to an anchorage by the shipping agent, where it remained for about a day and a half, allegedly due to a port workers’ strike,” the FSB statement said.
The Investigative Committee, Russia’s top investigative body, said in a separate statement that the alleged explosive devices attached to the hull of the Arrhenius were “factory-made naval magnetic mines manufactured in a NATO country.”
Invesigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said the explosives were defused by FSB personnel in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense and the National Guard (Rosgvardiya).
In an FSB video released later on Monday, the harbor master of the Ust-Luga seaport, Igor Malofeev, said that “all crew members of the gas carrier remain on board. The crew and the vessel are ready to begin cargo operations.”
