ABOARD THE LÉ GEORGE BERNARD SHAW—During a recent naval patrol of the Irish Sea, Lt. Cmdr. Maria O’Callaghan pointed to a web of purple lines on her screen, indicating the locations of undersea cables carrying data crucial for internet services and banking transfers. Around 75% of all trans-Atlantic subsea cables pass through or near the waters around Ireland, where a growing number of suspected Russian shadow fleet vessels now regularly sail. After an increase over the past 18 months, O’Callaghan said, shadow fleet vessels are in the waters nearly every day. Yet, Ireland’s defenses to protect this stretch of the…

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