According to the FSB, during an inspection of the submerged part of the hull of the ship, which was to load liquefied gas at the Russian port of Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea for transport to Turkiye, “divers detected strange objects, suspected to be explosive devices, attached by magnets in the engine room area.”

A more thorough inspection carried out by bomb disposal experts with the help of an underwater drone, according to the official statement, led to “the unequivocal conclusion that they are limpet mine-type explosive devices, which would have been manufactured in one of the countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization using industrially produced materials.”

The security agency’s statement specifies that each device contained approximately seven kilograms of plastic explosives.

The captain of the Arrhenius revealed that, prior to unloading in Antwerp, the LNG carrier had been sent to the anchorage area where it remained for about 36 hours, supposedly due to a dockworkers’ strike.

According to the FSB, “experts rule out the possibility that the limpet mines were placed in Russian territorial waters.”

The Russian Investigation Committee has already announced the opening of a criminal investigation for attempted terrorism and illegal trafficking of explosive devices.

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