NATO Plans To Deploy 10 Ships For Safeguarding Baltic Undersea Cables

In a recent move to safeguard critical underwater infrastructure, NATO has decided to deploy around 10 ships in the Baltic Sea, per the reports from Finnish newspaper Yle.

These ships will remain in the Baltic Sea until April and patrol regions where energy and data cables lie.

This decision came after many incidents of damage to undersea cables in the Baltic Sea were reported, including a power cable which was damaged between Finland and Estonia and 4 telecommunications cables which were tampered with during Christmas.

Additionally, Finnish Police announced the recovery of a lost anchor from the seafloor during their investigation of a suspected sabotage against internet and power cables in the Baltic Sea.

Finland had also seized the Eagle S tanker loaded with Russian oil in December, saying that it damaged the Finnish-Estonian Estlink 2 power line and 4 telecom cables by dragging its anchor across the seabed.

Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation said that the place where the anchor was recovered lies along the route of the Eagle S tanker.

Also, 2 undersea communication cables in the Baltic Sea were damaged severely in November, adding to the suspicions of sabotage amidst heightening geopolitical tensions.

The cables which connected Finland and Germany and Lithuania and Sweden were damaged on consecutive days, giving rise to concerns over Russian interference with critical global infrastructure.

References: FirstPost, Politico

Source: Maritime Shipping News