The move is part of the West's efforts to strengthen defences against "hybrid or gray-zone warfare," amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the Politico news service reported on Tuesday.
In late 2023, ten countries making up the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF): Britain, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and the Netherlands, announced they would send a string of vessels to the Baltic Sea "as a military contribution to the protection of critical undersea infrastructure."
It comes after a series of underwater pipeline and cable breaches, notably the bombing of the Russia-Germany Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022, and the raking of the Estonia-Finland Balticconnector gas pipeline in October 2023, Politico reported.
While the causes of these breaches have not yet been fully determined, experts say it is important to respond as the incidents "exposed a vulnerability."
The JEF countries said they were deploying ships to the Baltic Sea in order to send a "powerful message of our ability and commitment to bolstering the security of our critical undersea infrastructure and deterrence of hybrid threats."
Hybrid action "falls short of a formal declaration of war but can include infrastructure sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns," Politico noted.
Meanwhile, NATO has set up the Critical Undersea Infrastructure Coordination Cell, working with private companies and national governments to help identify threats, including in "real time," according to news outlets.
Wednesday is day 679 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
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Source: Politico, JEF Statement, NATO
