After several incidents involving damage to undersea cables in the Baltic Sea, including the latest incident that Sweden has launched an investigation into, NATO has created a program to monitor these vital undersea communication and power pipelines. VOA correspondent Vladislavs Andrejevs spoke with servicemen aboard a NATO ship patrolling the Gulf of Finland.
Estonian warships until recently spent most of their time protecting the border, searching for random mines on the bottom of the Baltic Sea and conducting rescue operations. But these days – after an unusually high number of underwater cables were damaged – the navy has a new mission – protecting maritime infrastructure.
"Here we see all the ships around us and all the information about them. // This, for example, is a friendly object," says one of the sailors as he points to the radars.
Since the beginning of 2025, the crew of this minesweeper has been participating in NATO operations aimed at protecting the Baltic Sea. Their area of responsibility extends from the port of Tallinn to the middle of the Gulf of Finland, about two hours' sailing time.
"Since the cable incident, the Estonian Navy has assigned three ships - one of them is our ship, Sarkala. What we are doing here is patrolling the area, monitoring all traffic going west and east, in both directions," says Meelis Kants, commander of the warship Sarkala.
It is in these waters that the Estlink-2 power cable connecting Estonia and Finland was damaged in December 2024. It is now the Estonian Navy's task to protect the second cable, which lies on the seabed in the Gulf of Finland.
"If something is suspicious, we approach the ships and also contact the ships if necessary," says Commander Kants.
Over the past few weeks, more than 10 underwater cables have been damaged in the Baltic Sea. While there is no definitive evidence of sabotage, some sailors say they suspect an accidentally dropped anchor may have snagged the cables on the seabed.
Estonian military officials say there are active investigations into the possibility of sabotage.
"The cables were snapped pulling the anchors. The civilian merchant ships were sailing and dropped anchor. The question is - was it done intentionally or was it an accident? Investigations are ongoing, criminal investigations into all those events," says sailor Johan-Elias Seljamaa.
During the patrol, the Estonian Navy, together with the Finnish Navy, organizes small military exercises. For these experienced sailors, this provides additional training, even as they fulfill the more serious task of monitoring these vital pipelines that connect the Nordic countries with the Baltic states. VOA (A2 Televizion)
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