On Sunday after 12:10, the Estonian border guard boat M-32, patrolling the Narva River, experienced a technical failure, resulting in the vessel with a crew of three drifting into Russian waters.
According to the operational leader of the Ida Prefecture, Silver Pjalsing, the crew of the Department of Police and Border Guard (DPP) boat was conducting routine patrols on the Narva River when technical failure and stormy weather caused the vessel to drift into Russian waters.
"Even the dropped anchor could not hold the vessel against the strong wind, and the boat drifted to the Russian side of the Narva River. We dispatched additional forces to bring the boat and crew back, while also notifying the Border Service of the Russian Federation about the incident," said Pjalsing.
At the same time, the three-person crew was working to establish the possible cause of the malfunction and attempted to regain control of the boat.
"The crew managed to partially fix the malfunction and return to Estonian waters. A second DPP boat arrived to tow the vessel to port," Pjalsing clarified.
The boat could have entered Russian waters up to 70 meters. It was in Russia for about 15 minutes.
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