NATO will deploy maritime drones, submarines, ships, and aircraft to detect and prevent sabotage attempts against critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. This decision comes after several power pipelines and data cables were damaged in recent months.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte announced the new mission, dubbed Baltic Watch, on Tuesday. The announcement followed Finland’s seizure of a ship belonging to Russia’s “shadow oil tanker fleet,” which is suspected of damaging submarine power cables last month.
During a meeting with officials from the Baltic Sea region in Helsinki, Rutte stated, “This is all about protecting critical submarine infrastructure. Whereas in the past we have discussed cyberattacks, sabotage, and energy blackmail as separate actions, what we want to show today is that NATO, together with our allies, will ensure our deterrence is in the right place.”
Over the past 15 months, three ships in the Baltic Sea have allegedly damaged underwater cables and pipelines by dragging their anchors on the seabed. This has prompted countries such as Sweden and Estonia to increase their maritime patrols.
NATO’s multinational troop groups are already deployed and reinforced in each of the three Baltic states. Additionally, NATO has been conducting an air policing mission over the region for an extended period.
In a recent interview with the Financial Times (FT), Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen noted that the likelihood of all three ships accidentally damaging underwater infrastructure was “close to zero.”
According to open-source intelligence experts, several ships from the Russian shadow fleet have exhibited “strange behavior” in the Baltic Sea and near Denmark. These ships have repeatedly crossed pipelines and experienced multiple breakdowns, raising concerns about potential accidents, further sabotage, or environmental disasters.
Rutte and other leaders praised Finland’s response to the latest sabotage suspicions. Last month, Finland helicoptered out and seized the Cook Islands-registered Eagle S tanker, which was carrying oil from Russia to Egypt.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who hosted the NATO meeting in Helsinki, revealed that a group of legal experts from the Baltic Sea states has been established. Their goal is to explore ways to restrict the freedom of navigation for ships belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet under international maritime law.
Valtonen acknowledged that “it is difficult to completely block the shadow fleet from the Baltic Sea” due to constraints imposed by international maritime law. However, she added that there are possibilities for “defense of territorial integrity or sovereignty.”
Stubb also highlighted a Finnish law that authorizes emergency action when an environmental disaster is feared.
Rutte declined to provide specific details on the number of ships, aircraft, submarines, and drones to be deployed, noting that these figures could change over time.
Sweden announced over the weekend that it would contribute up to three warships to the mission.
“The important thing is that we use the right military assets in the right places at the right time to deter destabilizing actions in the future,” Rutte emphasized.
Germany is also participating in the NATO mission with significant Bundeswehr capacity. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated at the Helsinki meeting, “We will participate with all the naval capabilities we have.”
The naval operation is being coordinated by a special staff at the Naval Command of the German Armed Forces in Rostock. The mission aims to deter saboteurs or, at the very least, ensure that sabotage operations can be investigated quickly.
“So that we can not only monitor but also take action,” Scholz said. He added that “additional possibilities within the framework of EU and national legislation” should be created, if necessary, to take action against suspicious vessels outside national waters.
