After multiple incidents prompted concerns of sabotage of critical undersea infrastructure, NATO announced it would begin enhanced patrolling in the Baltic Sea region.
NATO says the new mission is a response to growing concerns of spying and sabotage linked to Moscow, reported The Associated Press. The so-called Baltic Sentry mission will include maritime patrol aircraft, frigates, and naval drones.
“Across the Alliance, we have seen elements of a campaign to destabilize our societies. Through cyberattacks, assassination attempts, and sabotage – including possible sabotage of undersea cables in the Baltic Sea. With damage to energy and telecoms cables that are vital for our nations’ security and prosperity,” said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in a recent press conference.
“In the last two months alone, we have seen damage to a cable connecting Lithuania and Sweden, another connecting Germany and Finland, and most recently, a number of cables linking Estonia and Finland,” he continued.
Rutte said the protection of the undersea infrastructure is critical, stating that over 95% of the world’s internet traffic and around $10 trillion in financial transactions move across undersea cables.
During Rutte’s press conference, Polish state broadcaster TVP World reported that a ship belonging to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” was spotted circling a natural gas pipeline that runs between Poland and Norway. However, Poland’s military subsequently denied the event ever taking place.
The Shadow Fleet is a name given to a collection of old tankers operating in the region whose ownership is unknown. These ships are thought to be avoiding sanctions as they facilitate the movement of oil out of Russia.
As detailed in The Dallas Express in 2023, the deep seas have become an increasingly important battleground in modern warfare. Like telecommunications lines, oil and gas pipelines are also at the mercy of potential disruption. In September 2022, Nord Stream pipelines that carry Russian natural gas were damaged in an apparent sabotage. While the culprit behind the incident remains a mystery, evidence has pointed to potential involvement by Ukraine.