NATO launches ‘Baltic Sentry’ mission to protect submarine cables

NATO has launched a new mission to increase surveillance of ships in the Baltic Sea after critical undersea cables were damaged or severed last year.

NATO chief Mark Rutte said the mission, dubbed “Baltic Sentry,” would involve more patrol planes, warships and drones.

Its announcement was made at a summit in Helsinki attended by all NATO countries located in the Baltic Sea: Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.

While Russia was not directly blamed for the cable damage, Rutte said NATO would step up its surveillance of Moscow’s “shadow fleet” – ships with no clear ownership that are used to transport embargoed oil products.

Tensions between NATO countries and Russia have risen relentlessly since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“There are reasons for great concern” about damage to infrastructure, Rutte said. He added that NATO would respond strongly to such accidents, with more boardings of suspicious vessels and, if necessary, their seizure.

He declined to share further details about the number of assets that will be involved in the Baltic Sentry initiative, saying this could change periodically and he did not want to make “the enemy wiser than they already are.”

Underwater infrastructure is essential not only for electricity supply but also because more than 95% of Internet traffic is secured through undersea cables, Rutte said, adding that “1.3 million kilometers (800,000 miles) of cables ensure an estimated value of 10 trillion dollars in financial resources. transactions every day.

In a post on X, he said NATO would do “whatever it takes to ensure the security of our critical infrastructure and everything we hold dear.”

In recent months there has been an increase in unexplained damage to underwater infrastructure in the Baltic.

The most recent accident on underwater infrastructure saw Electrical cable connecting Finland and Estonia will be cut at the end of December.

The Finnish coast guard crew boarded the Eagle S oil tanker, sailing under the Cook Islands flag, and directed it toward Finnish waters, while Estonia deployed a patrol boat to protect its undersea power cable.

On Monday, Risto Lohi of Finland’s National Investigation Bureau told Reuters that the Eagle S was threatening to cut a second electrical cable and a gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia at the time of its seizure.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in December that damage to underwater infrastructure had become “so frequent” that it cast doubt on the idea that the damage could be considered “accidental” or “simply bad nautical skill.” .

Tsahkna did not directly accuse Russia. Nor did Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who on Sunday said that while Sweden was not jumping to conclusions or “accusing anyone of sabotage without very compelling reasons,” it was also not “naive.”

“The security situation and the fact that strange things happen again and again in the Baltic Sea also make us believe that hostile intentions cannot be ruled out.”

“There is little evidence that a ship did it accidentally and inadvertently… without understanding that it could cause damage,” he said.