German Police Detain and Search Cargo Ship on Suspicion of Spying
German police in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein confirmed media reports that they boarded a cargo ship on the suspicion that it was being used for launching drones and spying on critical infrastructure. It is the second incident this year when a vessel has been searched as part of the ongoing reports of drones spotted overflying critical infrastructure and military installations in Northern Europe.
The Scanlark, a 2,000 dwt North Sea cargo ship, according to the reports, was targeted, and the police trapped the vessel at the southern Kiel-Holtenau lock of the Kiel Canal on Sunday, September 7, at around 1600. The vessel, which is registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, was ordered to secure, and according to a report in Der Spiegel, a rubber police launch was circling the ship before special forces boarded the Scanlark.
“The reason for this was to avert threats to Germany's critical maritime infrastructure and an ongoing investigation by the Flensburg Public Prosecutor's Office on suspicion of spying for the purposes of sabotage and security-threatening imaging,” the police and prosecutors said in a joint statement. “It is suspected that a drone was launched from the searched vessel on August 26, 2025, and controlled via a naval vessel in order to reconnoiter it and take photographs.”
The Lower Saxony Interior Minister, Daniela Behrens, issued a statement saying the forces were working to “ward off hybrid threats and dangers to our security.” She repeated the accusation that the vessel was suspected of having served as a base for drone flights over critical infrastructure.
The vessel, which was built in 2006 and is 247 feet (75 meters) in length, was reportedly searched while divers were sent down to inspect the hull. It was coming from Rotterdam with a reported destination of Finland. AIS signals show it is still at the Kiel Canal.
The Estonian Public Broadcasting service’s ERR outlet is quoting the shipping company Vista Shipping Agency of Estonia, which operates the ship, calling the actions “stupidity.” They told ERR that the allegations of spying against Germany were “laughable” and “nonsense.”
German authorities have been on heightened alert due to the tensions in the region. ERR reports that there were 536 suspicious drone flights logged near strategic infrastructure in Germany in the first three months of 2025. The police in their statement referred to the current situation as an ongoing investigation.
German media previously reported in May that there were incidents where drones were spotted near a military site near Kiel, and 10 days later, a German patrol ship believed it was being followed by a drone. Another small cargo ship was identified as a suspect, and the police in Belgium were asked to search that vessel.
After the incidents in the spring, the media reports said German authorities do not have the resources to properly track and identify the drones.
Top image by Andrew Thomas of Scanlark in 2013 (CC BY-SA 2.0)