The NATO mission aims to deter further sabotage in a region rattled by recent damage to vital energy and telecommunications links.
The multinational operation begins at the end of the week and is expected to continue through April. According to Yle, rotating allied vessels already present in the Baltic will be joined by additional NATO ships.
Finland and Estonia had earlier requested increased support following a Christmas Day incident in which the EstLink 2 power cable and four telecom cables were severed in the Gulf of Finland.
On Tuesday, members of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) announced expanded surveillance measures to protect key infrastructure—electricity, gas and telecommunications lines—and to track suspected so-called “shadow fleets.”
Finland’s defense ministry said the operation will use artificial intelligence to monitor vessel movements in real time.
“Maritime forces have a solid capability to track ship movements,” Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen told local media. "Through cooperation, we can identify suspicious activity well before it reaches our waters."
The Cook Islands-flagged tanker Eagle S is under investigation for allegedly damaging cables by dragging its anchor on the seabed for several dozen kilometers.
The 220-meter vessel was traveling from Russia’s St. Petersburg to Port Said in Egypt. Finnish authorities have detained the tanker near the port of Porvoo as part of the ongoing probe into vandalism and severe disruptions to communications.
Meanwhile—in the face of these recent hostile actions in the Baltic Sea, targeting critical EU infrastructure and attributed to Russia—Polish politicians, experts and businesses vie for locally improving the security of the country's most important offshore investments.
The matter was first discussed in the Polish upper house, the Senate, on Tuesday and further developments are expected in the coming weeks.
NATO chief Mark Rutte said in late December that the Western defence alliance would step up its military presence in the Baltic Sea after a suspected act of sabotage targeting an underwater power cable between Estonia and Finland.
(jh/gs)
Source: PAP, IAR
Click on the audio player above for a report by Radio Poland's Marcin Matuszewski.