The Russian oceanographic research vessel Akademik Ioffe (MMSI 273413400 – callsign UAUN) entered the Mediterranean yesterday and is now sailing eastwards off Algeria.
Officially a scientific research vessel but NATO’s attention for this vessel is high: during her transit in the English Channel she was shadowed by a unit of the Royal Navy while during its transit in the Atlantic it was shadowed by units of the Portuguese Navy.
As its destination, the ship indicates Novorossiysk, a Black Sea port. The Bosphorus is closed to Russian military units but this is, at least on paper, a civil ship.