Chinese merchant ships that appear to take an unusual interest in ocean floor infrastructure are not the only things causing disorder in the Baltic Sea. In recent months, automatic identification system (AIS) spoofing has been increasing there, too. Since these systems exist to allow ships to know where they and other ships are, manipulation that shows vessels being somewhere completely different is not a trivial matter. But Western governments can’t do very much about it—and other countries could adopt the subversive practice, too.

The Yi Peng 3, a Chinese bulk carrier, has emerged as the prime suspect in the Baltic Sea cable cuts in November. After the incident, the vessel made its way westward, toward the Atlantic but anchored in the Kattegat Strait between Denmark and Sweden. It has remained there, watched by Danish naval vessels (as the ship is in Denmark’s exclusive economic zone) and sometimes by Swedish and German coast guard vessels, as well.

Chinese merchant ships that appear to take an unusual interest in ocean floor infrastructure are not the only things causing disorder in the Baltic Sea. In recent months, automatic identification system (AIS) spoofing has been increasing there, too. Since these systems exist to allow ships to know where they and other ships are, manipulation that shows vessels being somewhere completely different is not a trivial matter. But Western governments can’t do very much about it—and other countries could adopt the subversive practice, too.

The Yi Peng 3, a Chinese bulk carrier, has emerged as the prime suspect in the Baltic Sea cable cuts in November. After the incident, the vessel made its way westward, toward the Atlantic but anchored in the Kattegat Strait between Denmark and Sweden. It has remained there, watched by Danish naval vessels (as the ship is in Denmark’s exclusive economic zone) and sometimes by Swedish and German coast guard vessels, as well.

But other vessels are also causing headaches for Scandinavian governments. Pekka Niittyla of the Finnish Coast Guard told Reuters that ships sailing through the Gulf of Finland in recent weeks have been turning off their AIS. Lulu Ranne, Finland’s minister of transport and communications, said Russia is likely interfering with navigation systems. That matters because the Gulf of Finland and the rest of the Baltic Sea are busy waters with narrow and congested shipping........

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