Sabotage on naval ship in the port of Hamburg: workers arrested

Hamburg – The State Security of the Hamburg police and the public prosecutor’s office have arrested a Romanian (37) and a Greek (54). The two workers are said to have carried out acts of sabotage on naval corvettes in the port of Hamburg.

The accesses took place in Hamburg and in a village in Greece. The suspects’ apartments in Hamburg, Romania and Greece were also searched. The measures were coordinated by Eurojust, responsible for cross-border organized crime, in The Hague.

Wires slashed and electronics tampered with

According to the public prosecutor’s office, the two accused are said to have worked for the Navy in 2025 while working in the port of Hamburg Bundeswehr manipulated certain ships. These were on a shipyard site.

So the men should sometimes be alone, sometimes together Over 20 kilograms of blasting gravel was poured into the engine block of a ship. The incident was only discovered through an on-board check before the corvette “Emden” made its first trip towards Kiel in mid-January.

In addition, fresh water supply lines on ships are said to have been punctured, fuel tank caps removed from fuel tanks and fuse switches on the ship’s electronics deactivated. The ultra-modern corvette “Cologne” was de-energized and an electronic part began to smoke: danger of fire! According to BILD information, an employee only discovered the smoke clouds by chance and thus prevented something worse from happening.

The force’s effectiveness is at risk

According to the Attorney General’s Office, the acts would have caused significant damage to the ships or lead to their delayed departure – and thus the security of Germany and the effectiveness of the troops could be endangered.

The evaluation of seized evidence is ongoing. The investigation should also clarify who the possible clients of the acts of sabotage were.

Corvettes ordered by the Bundeswehr in 2017

The “Emden” was christened at the Blohm + Voss shipyard at the beginning of May 2024 and made her first long test trip four years after the keel was laid in mid-January 2025. It is one of a total of five new Class 130 corvettes that were ordered by the Bundeswehr in 2017 for a total price of two billion euros.

The ships were to be stationed at the Hohe Düne naval base in Rostock near Warnemünde and receive technical support in Kiel. The plan is to use them for maritime surveillance and to increase their presence in the area Ostsee.