NATO ship on Russia's doorstep

Not at home in the north

NATO defence research vessel NRV Alliance (A 5345) Photo. Michael Nitz ©naval press service

The NRV "Alliance" is a ship that you rarely see and hardly anyone knows. Even experienced naval personnel have never or rarely seen this ship. And now it's in the Baltic Sea!

The research and measurement vessel of the Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) left its home base, the La Spezia naval base, on 19 May 2025 and subsequently passed through the Strait of Gibraltar to the west on 22 May 2025. After rounding Skagen on 29 May 2025, the NRV "Alliance", which is considered one of the quietest research vessels in the world, moved through the Danish Straits into the central Baltic Sea the following day.

Yesterday, on 1 June 2025, the NATO defence research vessel, which was commissioned in 1988, was operating in the Bay of Gdansk. The exact current mission of the NRV "Alliance" (A 5345), which is operated by Marina Militare on behalf of NATO, is undisclosed. What is striking is the low transit speed of the 93 metre long and 2,920 tonne displacement special ship in the Baltic Sea. It stands to reason that acoustic and/or oceanographic surveys will be carried out en route and in the Bay of Gdansk. It is interesting to note that the special vessel currently has its AIS switched off.

AIS image from 01.06.25 Position of the "Alliance"

What was that?

The last AIS signal showed her four (!) nautical miles off the Russian oblast of Kaliningrad. A data error? Assistance in a maritime emergency? Not at all! It is more likely that the AIS data of the "Alliance" was manipulated and rebroadcast from another location. Similar cases are known from 2021 in the Black Sea, where data from NATO units visiting Odessa in Ukraine suddenly appeared with geodata shortly before Sevastopol in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia.

The NRV "Alliance" now joins the French reconnaissance vessel FS "Dupuy de Lôme" and the fleet service boat "Oker" as a highly specialised survey vessel for the underwater area in the Baltic Sea. This emphasises the unprecedented high density of reconnaissance capabilities in the sea area during BALTOPS - obviously necessary and not unfounded.

Text: Nitz / Schlüter

Photos: Michael Nitz ©naval press service