Mario López Ayala, PhD
Old tankers may be flying drones to spy on Germany’s critical infrastructure.
Berlin, September 2025
Since the beginning of the year, hundreds of spy drones have been detected around key German infrastructure. Baltic coastal states such as Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony have been the most affected, prompting internal investigations at both state and federal levels.
The targets range from military facilities to vital energy nodes including gas terminals. Last weekend, police in Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony intercepted and searched the cargo ship Scanlark while it was passing through the Kiel-Holtenau lock, amid suspicions that it had been used as a platform for drone flights over critical maritime assets. Witnesses reported that at least one drone appeared to take photographs of a German warship.
Federal and regional authorities emphasized the urgency of coordinated action against hybrid threats to maritime infrastructure. The Scanlark, a vessel of about 75 meters, is flagged in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It had previously docked in Rotterdam and was en route to Finland.
Security specialists warn that so-called ghost fleet ships, older tankers and freighters often used to bypass Western sanctions, may be launching surveillance drones. Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the Extremism Project, described this scenario as entirely plausible and urged a revision of maritime surveillance strategies. Yet full monitoring of every vessel, he noted, would be both impractical and prohibitively expensive.
Jurisdictional constraints add another layer of difficulty. German police or military can only act within national airspace. Drones launched from international waters remain beyond reach unless they enter German territory, and even then, the legal grounds for interception remain contested.
Authorities confirmed that communication channels between federal ministries, state governments, and infrastructure operators are active, but responses remain reactive rather than preventive. During a previous legislative term, an amendment to the Air Safety Law was drafted to empower the military to shoot down rogue drones once police intervention proved insufficient. The bill, however, was never passed. Critics in parliament have condemned the delay, while the current coalition under Chancellor Friedrich Merz has yet to revive the initiative.
The issue is not confined to Germany. Neighboring countries have reported similar incidents. Poland intercepted Russian-made drones near Lublin, while regions close to the Belarus border discovered wreckage marked with Cyrillic script. Whether acts of espionage or deliberate provocations, these episodes underline the spread of hybrid threats across Europe.
At the same time, Germany is leading a major NATO exercise called “Quadriga” in the Baltic Sea with more than 8,000 personnel from 14 member states. The drills include drone interception and rapid troop deployment to Lithuania, reflecting heightened awareness of unconventional threats at sea.
The open question remains whether Germany and its NATO partners can adapt quickly enough. Are the existing laws and institutions prepared for an era in which unmanned incursions blur the boundaries between conflict, espionage, and provocation?
Behind every data point, the intention.
Detrás de cada dato, la intención.