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The Russian Navy has stolen a wave buoy belonging to TalTech's department of marine systems from Estonia's exclusive economic zone and transported it to Kaliningrad, Estonian public broadcaster ERR reports.
«The buoy was located about 50 kilometers off Hiiumaa island. It was in Estonia's exclusive economic zone. It is not exactly territorial waters, but Estonia has the right to conduct various activities there,» Rivo Uiboupin, head of the department of marine systems, said on the «Aktuaalne Kaamera» news program.
According to an analysis by the department, the buoy's movements at the end of April no longer matched natural conditions. As a result, the department asked the Estonian Navy's maritime operations center for help and called in a Latvian Navy vessel, as there were no Estonian naval ships nearby.
«The Latvian Navy did not find the buoy. However, with their help, it was possible to correlate the buoy's movements with the movements of Russian Navy ships in the area,» Cmdr. Ivo Värk, commander of the Estonian Navy, said on «Aktuaalne Kaamera.» According to the Estonian Navy, the Russian Navy may have seen the 50-centimeter-diameter buoy as a navigational hazard.
The wave buoy is a device developed by TalTech's department of marine systems to measure wave characteristics. Similar equipment is used elsewhere in the world.