NATO boosts presence in Baltic Sea after damage to undersea cables

NATO permanent representatives, who met today in Brussels, agreed on measures to strengthen the Alliance's presence in the Baltic Sea and protect critical underwater infrastructure, following an incident involving submarine cable damage.

As reported by Ukrinform, this is stated in the information published today on the North Atlantic Alliance website.

«Allies met today (30 December 2024) at NATO Headquarters to hold consultations on the security of critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, following the damage on 25 December to submarine cables connecting Estonia and Finland. The damage to these cables, which is being investigated by Finnish authorities, is one of a number of recent incidents in the Baltic Sea that are being treated as possible sabotage,» the statement said.

As noted, the Allies expressed their full solidarity with Estonia and Finland in connection with the recent incident in the Baltic Sea.

«To maintain vigilance, increase situational awareness and prevent future incidents, NATO is strengthening its military presence in the Baltic Sea. The Allies are also considering other measures to respond to potential threats to critical underwater infrastructure, in particular with the support of the NATO Maritime Centre for Critical Underwater Infrastructure Security, which was established in May of this year,» – the information on the NATO website says.

As reported, on December 25, Fingrid, which operates the Finnish electricity grid, announced a no electricity supply due to a malfunction of the Estlink 2 submarine cable, which connects Finland and Estonia.

The Finnish Coast Guard detained the Russian oil tanker Eagle S, registered in the Cook Islands, on suspicion of damaging this electrical cable, as well as four internet lines.

According to the company MarineTraffic, which tracks ship movements, the Eagle S Panamax oil tanker was passing in the Gulf of Finland near the cable route on Wednesday morning, coinciding with the time of the infrastructure damage. The investigation into the incident is ongoing.