MECHANIC STEPANOV

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Russian ship suffered power failure and drifted over several undersea cables

The 'Mechanic Stepanov', enroute from the Russian port of St. Petersburg to Malokurilskoye with an ETA as of Oct 13, suffered a power failure and drifted in a short distance away from the Lilligrund Wind Farm in the direction of Drogden Lighthouse, before it.was anchored in Danish waters south of Amager on the evening of Sep 13, 2025. A NATO warship sailing under the British flag, a Danish military vessel and a Swedish police vessel were deployed to the area on the afternoon of Sep 14. The Swedish Coast Guard was supposed to handle the situation as the power failure had occurred in the Kattegat in Swedish waters, before the vessel ended up in Danish waters. In the meantime, the 'Mechanic Stepanov' drifted across three undersea data and communication cables running between Denmark and Sweden. The ship reported the problems just before it reached the area where the cables lie on the seabed, and control was regained shortly after it had passed over them. The passage took 20-30 minutes. When the ship finally stopped drifting, it was anchored in the Øresund for 20 hours, a short distance from an underwater gas pipeline from Swedegas that runs between Amager and Skåne. At the same time, it was near Copenhagen Airport and the Danish Armed Forces Intelligence Service (FE) premises at Sandagergård on the southern tip of Amager. The Danish Defence was monitoring the movements of the Russian ship, which heaved anchor again on the afternoon. The 'Mechanic Stepanov' was just completed at the Otradnoye Shipyard on the Neva River, and it received its RS class certification on Sep 4. No problems were identified in inspections and sea trials, and the vessel was cleared to depart for the voyage to its home port in the Kuril Islands. The crab vessel transited westbound through the Baltic Sea and then suffered a blackout due to a mechanical casualty. The ship was adrift in a busy shipping lane at the entrance to the Øresund for an extended period before going to anchor. Reports with photos: https://www.soefart.dk/article/view/1183352/russisk_skib_sejler_igen_efter_problemer_i_dansk_farvand https://danwatch.dk/russisk-skib-fik-maskinstop-over-undersoeiske-kabler-i-danmark/