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Theft from warship earmarked for Russia

November 30, 2014

French authorities are investigating the theft of technical equipment from a warship whose delivery to Russia was scuppered by the conflict in Ukraine. The missing gear was said to be neither classified nor sensitive.

https://p.dw.com/p/1DxDA
Sevastopol Kriegsschiff für Russland im Hafen von Saint-Nazaire Frankreich 21.11.2014
Image: AFP/Getty Images/G. Gobet

Two computer hard drives, a motherboard, and a graphics card contained within two central processing units were stolen from the Mistral helicopter carrier ordered by Russia and currently under construction in the Atlantic port of Saint-Nazaire.

Magistrate Fabienne Bonnet also clarified that the theft took place aboard the Sevastopol - the second of two Mistral-class vessels France is scheduled to deliver to Russia. The other ship, the completed Vladivostock, was initially set for delivery in October, but this has been suspended in light of developments in Ukraine. France's presidency confirmed the continued suspension of delivery "until further notice" on Tuesday.

Frankreich Kriegsschiff Mistral
Both the Vladivostock and the Sevastopol are currently docked in Saint-NazaireImage: J.-S.Evrard/AFP/Getty Images

Bonnet said in a communique that the missing equipment "is not classed as sensitive material," also saying that security safeguards meant that the hardware was programmed only to function aboard the Sevastopol. The computer equipment was installed by the French multinational Thales Group.

French investigators formally opened an investigation into the missing equipment on Friday. The theft was registered on November 25, but may have taken place up to a week beforehand. According to a preliminary report, no signs of burglary had been discovered and no hypothesis was currently favored to explain the missing equipment.

"The investigators will notably try to determine the date of the theft, and to research which people had access to the ship under construction on that date," Bonnet said in a statement.

Russia and France agreed to the 1.2-billion-euro (almost $1.5-billion) sale of the two vessels in June 2011. The Mistral class ships can carry 16 helicopters, four landing crafts, 13 tanks, 450 soldiers and medical facilities.

Although Russia had threatened to seek compensation for breach of contract unless the delivery went ahead, Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said "we will wait patiently …. so far, we are not filing a claim anywhere," when the most recent delay was confirmed earlier in the week.

msh/tj (AFP, Reuters)