UK, Finland, Estonia practice subsea infrastructure protection in Baltic Sea

Together with the Finnish Border Guard, the warships of Finland, Estonia, and Britain practised protecting submerged infrastructure in the Baltic Sea region on Monday, according to a statement from Finland’s Defence Forces. This region, which is well-known for its extensive submerged infrastructure, saw damage to three telecommunications cables and a gas pipeline that connected Finland and Estonia at the beginning of October. Finland and Estonia believe there is a connection between the occurrences involving the gas pipeline and the cable, and that the damage was caused by a container ship flying the flag of Hong Kong pulling its anchor down the seabed. China has declared that, in compliance with international law, it is willing to supply the relevant information. The cooperative exercise, which is scheduled to continue on Tuesday, aims to build capacities for underwater monitoring and protection. Though the exercise is being conducted under the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) defensive cooperation of NATO, which includes the Nordic and Baltic states, the Netherlands, and Britain, all three participants are members of the military alliance. Britain announced on Thursday that it would participate in JEF patrols in the area in December by sending seven Royal Navy ships and a maritime patrol aircraft. Amid mounting worries about Russian sabotage, Britain had announced in October that it intended to increase its military presence in Northern Europe, sending 20,000 troops there the following year. The goal was to assist safeguard vital infrastructure in the area. Additionally, last year, the Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Germany were destroyed in the Baltic Sea, which investigators say were deliberately blown up, although they have not yet named a suspect. (With agency inputs)