Nato launches ‘Baltic Sentry’ mission to protect undersea cables

Nato has launched a new mission to increase surveillance of ships in the Baltic Sea after critical submarine cables were damaged or bypassed last year.

NATO chief Mark Rutte said the operation, dubbed “Baltic Sentry”, would also include several patrol aircraft, warships and drones.

His announcement was made at a meeting in Helsinki where all Nato countries sit on the Baltic Sea – Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.

Although Russia was not specifically named as the cause of the cable damage, Rutte said that Nato would increase monitoring of Moscow’s “ships” – unowned vessels used to transport illegal oil.

Tensions between NATO countries and Russia have been increasing since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

“There is reason to be very concerned” about the infrastructure damage, Rutte said. He added that Nato would respond vigorously to such incidents, boarding ships deemed necessary, and if necessary, seizure.

He refused to share information about the number of resources that will take part in the Baltic Sentry, since he said that this could change at any time and that he did not want to make “the enemy smarter than he already is”.

Submarine infrastructure is important not only for electricity, but also because more than 95% of the Internet is secured through submarine cables, Rutte said, adding that “1.3 million kilometers (800,000 miles) of cables ensure 10 trillion dollars in transactions every day”.

In a letter on X, he said Nato will do “what is necessary to ensure the safety and security of our most important assets and all that we hold dear”.

There has been an uproar over the mysterious destruction of undersea infrastructure in the Baltic in recent months.

The latest disaster in undersea development the power line running between Finland and Estonia will be cut at the end of December.

Finnish coast guards boarded the oil tank Eagle S – which was sailing under the flag of the Cook Islands – and controlled it in Finnish waters, while Estonia sent a patrol boat to protect its undersea power cable.

On Monday, Risto Lohi of Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation told Reuters that the Eagle S was threatening to cut a second power line and a gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia when it was seized.

The Minister of the Republic of Estonia, Margus Tsahkna, said in December that the damage to the ship’s construction has been “rare” to the point of questioning the idea that damage can be considered “accidental” or “ordinary poor at sea”.

Tsahkna did not mention Russia directly. Neither did Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who said on Sunday that while Sweden did not jump to conclusions or “accuse anyone of destruction without strong reasons”, it was also “absurd”.

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

“There is little evidence to suggest that the ship could act accidentally and unconsciously … without understanding that it could cause damage,” he said.