Two Arrests After Brand-New German Warships Allegedly Sabotaged in Dock

"A joint European police operation has led to the arrest of two men over the alleged sabotage of German warships by dockyard workers, which could have “led to significant damage to the ships” had it not been detected. Two men, a 37-year-old Romanian citizen and a 54-year-old Greek, were arrested on Tuesday in a joint operation between German, Romanian, Greek, and European Union police agencies. 

Their apartments were searched, and digital devices were recovered. German prosecutors say the men, who were both contractors employed at the Blohm und Voss shipyard in Hamburg, a subsidiary of the German defence giant Rheinmetall, where “several” warships were sabotaged last year.

 It is alleged the Romanian man, who was employed as a painter, had poured 20 kilograms (45lbs) of abrasive steel shot blasting media into the main engine of the brand-new German navy corvette Emden.
It is further alleged that other acts of sabotage include “punctured fresh water supply lines, removed fuel tank caps, and deactivated safety switches in the ship’s electronics”. At least one other ship is said to have been sabotaged, but exactly how remains unclear. While it was revealed last year that incidents had occurred at the naval shipyard, it was only after the arrests that it was confirmed that the government had concluded they were acts of sabotage. Remarkably, German newspaper Bild reports that at least one of the alleged saboteurs remained employed at the shipyard until this week and had access to the secure facility for over a year after the attempted sabotage was first discovered." 

MS