Infrastructure violations in the Baltic Sea

 Infrastructure violations in the Baltic Sea

Exercise "Unified Response 25"

The State Border Guard Service, as well as the anti-terrorist operations unit "Aras" and the Lithuanian military would play the largest role in responding to possible sabotage and detaining suspected ships.

The plan was developed after several violations of underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea were recorded in the past six months: at the end of January, the communication cable of the Latvian State Radio and Television Center was damaged, and at Christmas, the cable "Estlink 2" between Finland and Estonia. Communication cables between Sweden and Lithuania, Finland and Germany have previously been damaged. The latest case of suspected sabotage was reported last week by Sweden, which recorded a damage to its and Germany's communication cable east of the island of Gotland.

In response to the incidents, NATO launched a new surveillance mission in the Baltic Sea in January, "Baltic Sentry", which aims to prevent attempts to attack underwater infrastructure in the region.

The Lithuanian Armed Forces and the State Border Guard Service held a joint exercise “Unified Response 25” in the Baltic Sea at the beginning of February, aimed at strengthening national preparedness for the protection of underwater infrastructure.

“These infrastructure violations can occur every day, we can say with 100% certainty that we will prevent them. No country in the world can do this, because these are very large areas of uncontrolled underwater space. But the most important thing is that initial actions are already being taken, vigilance is being raised, information is being exchanged,” says the Commander of the Lithuanian Navy, Flotilla Admiral Giedrius Premeneckas.

According to the commander, suspicious ships sailing slower or on a strange course are contacted and prevention is being carried out.

Even greater protection would be required for wind farms planned in the sea near Palanga, about 30 km from the coast.

We track with our radars even further than military radars can reach, seeing if birds or certain objects under the water are approaching,” says Darius Maikštėnas, head of the Ignitis Group.

Naval ships contribute to security at sea. Lithuania has one headquarters and supply ship, 2 mine countermeasures ships, and 4 patrol ships, all of which are about 40 years old. Lithuania could also build new military ships for itself. The projects are complex, says Arnoldas Šileika, head of the Western Shipyard, but the company has already built several dual-purpose ships for foreign customers.

According to the commander of the Naval Forces, the main challenge in ensuring security at sea at the moment is international legal regulation. Perhaps actions such as cutting cables at sea should be equated with international terrorism, because they cause millions of euros in damage, for which compensation is impossible to claim.

“Most of these ships are not banned, they fly third-country flags, so-called flags of convenience, smaller states that do not bear any responsibility for ships flying their flags,” says G. Premeneckas.

The EC also said the EU would increase its capacity to quickly repair damaged cables and would impose sanctions on “hostile actors” and “shadow fleets.”

Security analysts say Russia operates a “shadow fleet” of hundreds of ships that the Russians use to evade Western sanctions; some of these ships have been accused of damaging cables.