On January 27, the swell was short and the wind was biting aboard the Croix-du-Sud, the military vessel sent by France to contribute to the "Baltic Sentry" NATO operation. Launched in mid-January as an emergency measure in the Baltic Sea, it aims to protect the extensive infrastructure that spans its depths. In the damp fog, with renewed suspicions of acts of sabotage attributed to "ghost" ships under Russian orders, the men remained focused. The crew of the French minehunter knew that they were sailing in troubled waters in this area off the Danish coast, close to the route of the Baltic Pipe, a major pipeline linking Norway to Poland.

There was no direct threat in the vicinity of the French vessel, which was equipped with sonar, an underwater robot, and six mine-clearing divers. Only cargo ships and tankers occasionally sailed by in the distance. However, as Lieutenant-Commander Julien Malherbe, 41, said: "Our mission is first and foremost to share information between allies to get the most up-to-date picture possible of maritime traffic in the zone, to establish a dialogue with merchant vessels, to share criteria for suspicion, and to deter any possible attempts at sabotage." In short, to monitor and relay information in conjunction with the reinforced maritime patrol aircraft and interconnected coastal radars on the shores of the Baltic.

Since the war in Ukraine began, incidents involving submarine infrastructures in the Baltic have increased, with 11 events recorded since 2023. The December 25, 2024, incident affecting EastLink 2, a major electrical communications cable between Estonia and Finland, set the alarm bells ringing among allies. Previously, most of the damage had been to internet communication cables, several of which were hit on the same day as EastLink 2. But thanks to system redundancies, the impact of such damage was often barely perceptible to users, and repairs were carried out quickly.

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