
Mystery surrounds lost German sea data station - bauc
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49592330
======
zelienople
The mouth of Eckernförde is a pretty good place to observe the main transit
belt between the North Sea and the Baltic.

This monitoring station disappeared toward the end, or shortly after, a major
Russian naval exercise involving almost all of their northern fleet.

The US has moved an aircraft carrier, the Harry S Truman, near the coast of
Norway, perhaps to observe Russian activity.

The Russians have two diesel-electric boats, both Kilo class, in the Baltic.
Apparently, one of them has been out of commission for a while. The rumour is
that they're significantly upgrading their Baltic submarine fleet.

While no passive sonar function has been disclosed for this station, it is
fairly new, expensive and high-tech. It was deployed recently as an upgrade to
the German data collection system in Kiel Bay.

Perhaps the Russians wished to transfer nuclear submarines to the Baltic to
upgrade their fleet, and this station was seen as a concern.

~~~
PaulRobinson
This might sound like a flippant question, but I'm genuinely curious: how do
you know all this? Are you a keen fan of modern naval warfare and keep abreast
of it all, or do you work in the industry somehow?

~~~
jonathankoren
There is _a lot_ of OSINT on the web and social media. People love taking
pictures of every warship that crosses the Bosporus. People read Notice To
Airmen reports and share out unusual reports linked to military activity. If
you follow the right people on Twitter, you can watch them analyze North
Korean missile tests and identify spy satellites in almost real time.

~~~
algaeontoast
Any recommendations? I usually follow GDarkConrad on twitter for ADSB info

~~~
jonathankoren
[https://twitter.com/CalibreObscura](https://twitter.com/CalibreObscura)

[https://twitter.com/wslafoy](https://twitter.com/wslafoy)

[https://twitter.com/CovertShores](https://twitter.com/CovertShores)

[https://twitter.com/ArmsControlWonk](https://twitter.com/ArmsControlWonk)

[https://twitter.com/Capt_Navy](https://twitter.com/Capt_Navy)

[https://twitter.com/intellipus](https://twitter.com/intellipus)

~~~
algaeontoast
Thanks!

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mannykannot
Someone dragged an anchor or a trawl net over it and isn't about to admit to
it, especially once they realize they were in a prohibited zone.

Having occasionally followed rocket launches from Wallops Island, I think I
have a small sense of how often keep-out rules are violated. Unless this area
had 24/7 radar monitoring, I think this is the most likely explanation.

~~~
Accujack
Agreed. Bottom trawling was the first thing I thought of. The machinery is
probably relatively nearby, possibly with shreds of net caught in it, sitting
on the bottom.

~~~
samstave
How big are these sensor objects? How do they communicate what datat they
collect?

~~~
SiempreViernes
Presumably by the cable that was torn off.

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cs702
It reads like the beginning of a script for one of those giant-aquatic-monster
summer movies starting, say, Jason Statham.

Quoting from the OP: _" The seabed 'observatory', worth about €300,000
(£270,000), weighed more than half a tonne. It could not have been dragged off
by a storm ... Divers only found a torn power cable at the site, 22m (72ft)
down and 1.8km (1.2 miles) offshore."_

~~~
ethbro
Except it turns out it's actually a heist movie, and they stole it at the
beginning of the movie.

~~~
cs702
Probably with the same actors too.

~~~
ChuckMcM
who are then chased by a prehistoric sea creature that was feeding off the
energy.

~~~
ahje
I need this movie in my life!

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frobozz
> No boats - not even local fishing boats - are allowed into the area, called
> Eckernförde Bay, about 70km (44 miles) south of the Danish border.

Do they mean this Eckernförde Bay?
[https://www.google.com/maps/@54.4733896,9.8473616,800m/data=...](https://www.google.com/maps/@54.4733896,9.8473616,800m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here?
[https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:9.973/cent...](https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:9.973/centery:54.493/zoom:12)

~~~
rerx
There are some restricted zones. German, but if you click on the map, you will
get an idea: [https://mein-ostseehafen.de/seegebiete/schleswig-
holstein/sc...](https://mein-ostseehafen.de/seegebiete/schleswig-
holstein/schleimuende-bis-
eckernfoerde.html?layout=edit&id=301#Eckernfoerder_Bucht)

~~~
samstave
I really want to know if that german submarine station in antarctica and the
rumored US base under san diego are true.

~~~
gonesilent
Coronado the main Navy base in San Diego is mostly built on top of a sand
burm. If anything is under San Diego it would have to be Miramar, or Camp
Pendleton.

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raxxorrax
They bay is partly prohibited to be visited because it is used by the
military.

It is also believed that a lot of ammunition was disposed there after WW2,
which perhaps could offer some starting points for an explanation, even if
unlikely.

The military currently uses it for torpedo tests and perhaps someone is
currently really starting to sweat after reading this article.

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michaelg7x
Maye it didn't "just" do climate science, and for that reason someone with the
right resources wanted it to disappear.

~~~
jagermo
Yeah, as a German, I doubt our ability to place fancy surveillance stuff or
other military projects onto the seabed.

~~~
oh_sigh
Maybe all of your talented engineers are doing exactly that, and everyone else
left over is doing things like building airports.

~~~
jagermo
and faking emission readings?

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ericb
I can understand a cut cable and a humans stealing something worth 300k. But
in what scenario does a _torn_ cable make sense?

~~~
joshvm
You would have to dive to cut the cable. Easier, if your boat is powerful
enough, to pull until the cable breaks. Ignoring malicious activity, could be
something as simple as an anchor got caught and they pulled the station with
it?

~~~
samstave
Or, you can use the USS Jimmy Carter submarines cable splicing room to do
whatever you may want to do...

~~~
samstave
The only people downvoting this are spooks or people who dont know what im
talking about.

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astrodev
Maybe stolen for scrap metal (would not be that unusual, as absurd as it
sounds)

~~~
abricot
They would probably just have taken the cable and left the station.

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Spare_account
> It could not have been dragged off by a storm

I'd have thought that until other evidence comes to light, this is the most
likely answer actually.

~~~
notkaiho
Except there haven't been severe storms in the area since 21 August.

~~~
robk
That's the day it was lost

~~~
notkaiho
Sorry, might as well have said "20 August". Point is, weather looks (to my
untrained eye) as not a likely culprit

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echelon
Could this research platform have been sabotaged by a US submarine? The
current administration is poised against climate change science, and
submarines are reportedly used in clandestine operations to splice or cut
communication cables. Perhaps it was generating data that was making someone
unhappy.

Edit: I'm being downvoted for making a (not unreasonable?) supposition. I
honestly wanted a discussion about submarines and/or intelligence community
things.

~~~
exar0815
Highly unlikely. Those waters are too shallow for any US-Submarines (Or
british) to operate in. And its one of the prime hunting grounds for german
submarines, which are based in the Area. Much too risky.

~~~
cerebellum42
Yeah seems rather risky to be operating literally in the backyard of a major
German submarine base. Six Type 212 subs are based in Eckernförde, one is
actually on the marine tracker linked in the comments above [0] right now. If
a submarine pops up there unannounced that's a diplomatic incident at least
and with a naval base nearby the risk of discovery would be rather high.

[0]
[https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:9.973/cent...](https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:9.973/centery:54.493/zoom:12)

