NATO has announced the launch of a new operation, Baltic Sentinel, to protect the region’s maritime infrastructure.

This is stated on the Alliance’s official website.

The announcement was made during the NATO Baltic Summit with the participation of Secretary General Mark Rutte, Finnish President Alexander Stubbom, and Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Mihal.

At the Summit, the region’s leaders discussed the growing threat to critical underwater infrastructure.

Rutte stated that recent sabotage has damaged energy and communication cables, but he is confident that, working together with all Allies, countries will do everything necessary to ensure the security and protection of not only critical infrastructure but also “everything we hold dear.”

It is reported that ships and aircraft will provide security within the Baltic Watch. The Secretary-General also announced the deployment of a fleet of maritime drones.

Rutte noted that NATO will work with Allies to integrate national surveillance capabilities, improving the ability to protect critical undersea infrastructure and respond when needed.

Militarnyi recently reported that the Lithuanian Navy is also stepping up surveillance of the NordBalt submarine electric cable amid reports of damage.

Sabotage in the Baltic Sea

On December 26, it was reported that Finland boarded and detained the Eagle S tanker suspected of damaging the cable.

The Finnish Border Guard intercepted the tanker after the Estlink 2 submarine electric cable was damaged in the Gulf of Finland on December 25.

The vessel, which was transporting oil from Russia to Egypt, is suspected of deliberately cutting communications between the two countries, as it was passing close to them at the time of the incident.

Law enforcement officers then discovered that one of the anchors on the ship had been cut, which appears to have been used to sever the cable.

According to the Marinetraffic monitoring service, which tracks ship movements using transponder signals, the Eagle S was heading to Egypt and clearly slowed down while passing the area above the cable.

In November, the Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 was seen in a similar incident when it passed through a data cable between Finland, Germany, Sweden, and Lithuania around the time they were severed.

The Wall Street Journal later reported, citing anonymous sources associated with the investigation, that it was Russian intelligence that ordered the ship’s captain to damage the cables with an anchor.