Baltic Sea: NATO deploys fleet to protect cables – UK relies on AI

Following the recent acts of sabotage on critical underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, NATO will send a small fleet to protect cables in the sea area from Friday. This was reported by the Finnish radio station Yle. These will be ships from the Baltic Sea fleet on NATO duty as well as boats sent directly by NATO countries. The total number is said to be around ten. The operation is initially planned until April.

More presence in the Baltic Sea

According to the report, the ships will be positioned close to power and data lines. They are primarily intended to have a deterrent effect and reduce the risk of sabotage. However, NATO cannot simply block the passage of ships in international waters. The Secretary General of the North Atlantic alliance, Mark Rutte, announced on December 30 that NATO wanted to show more presence in the Baltic Sea. This was to include a unit that was newly established in Kiel at the beginning of January.

Finland and Estonia also asked NATO for increased involvement. Both countries continue to guard the Gulf of Finland with their ships. The main reason: the tanker Eagle S is suspected of having damaged the Estlink2 power cable between Finland and Estonia as well as four data cables in the Baltic Sea, one of which leads to Germany. Eagle S is said to belong to the Russian shadow fleet. These are cargo ships that Russia uses unofficially to circumvent sanctions on oil transportation, for example. Internet cables have already been repeatedly damaged in the Baltic Sea.

Operation "Northern Guard" with AI

Meanwhile, the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) has announced that it will increase its monitoring of shipping traffic in the Baltic and North Sea using artificial intelligence (AI). The JEF is a defense alliance of mainly Baltic and Nordic countries.

Operation Nordic Warden will use AI to analyze data from a range of sources, including the vessels' Automatic Identification System (AIS), to calculate the risk posed by any detected vessel entering "areas of interest". Boats use the AIS to transmit their position. Certain vessels that JEF considers to be part of the Russian shadow fleet are to be registered in the system so that they can be tracked closely as they approach areas with critical infrastructure. In the event of an increased risk forecast, suspicious ships could be monitored in real time.

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