Cutting undersea cables or otherwise meddling with underwater infrastructure has become something of a trend. Back when I was captain of a frigate my job was to hunt Russian nuclear submarines and deter them from doing such things. The issue wasn’t prominent back then and we always felt rather alone and unloved as we were battered by the cruel weather of the High North and North Atlantic. Then in 2017 someone called Rishi Sunak published a report called “Undersea Cables: Indispensable, insecure”. But still no one outside the maritime headquarters in Northwood really cared.
Now they do. Last week the UK government announced that the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) will lead a multi-national system named Nordic Warden, from Northwood HQ, to tackle this rapidly increasing threat. This week, Nato announced its Baltic Sentry project with the same purpose. In crude outline, Nato will provide the ships, aircraft and hardware and the JEF will provide the intelligence and data.
The Nord Stream gas pipe sabotage in September 2022 was perhaps the first time this issue broke through into the mainstream. Then the Chinese-owned MV Newnew Polarbear severed the Balticonnector gas pipe and cables in October the following year. The Chinese-owned but Russian operated Yi Peng travelled over two cables, again in the Baltic, in November 2024 at the exact time they were cut. Deliberate anchor dragging was assumed (although questioned by me and other mariners). The last incident in 2024 was again in the Baltic when the MV Eagle S was boarded by the Finns on suspicion of sabotage who found a load of listening equipment and a ship with only one anchor. The other anchor has since been recovered, found at one end of a 12km long trench.
Cutting undersea cables or otherwise meddling with underwater infrastructure has become something of a trend. Back when I was captain of a frigate my job was to hunt Russian nuclear submarines and deter them from doing such things. The issue wasn’t prominent back then and we always felt rather alone and unloved as we were battered by the cruel weather of the High North and North Atlantic. Then in 2017 someone called Rishi Sunak published a report called “Undersea Cables: Indispensable, insecure”. But still no one outside the maritime headquarters in Northwood really cared.
Now they do. Last week the UK government announced that the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) will lead a multi-national system named Nordic Warden, from Northwood HQ, to tackle this rapidly increasing threat. This week, Nato announced its Baltic Sentry project with the same purpose. In crude outline, Nato will provide the ships, aircraft and hardware and the JEF will provide the intelligence and data.
The Nord Stream gas pipe sabotage in September 2022 was perhaps the first time this issue broke through into the mainstream. Then the Chinese-owned MV Newnew Polarbear severed the Balticonnector gas pipe and cables in October the following year. The Chinese-owned but Russian operated Yi Peng travelled over two cables, again in the Baltic, in November 2024 at the exact time they were cut. Deliberate anchor dragging was assumed (although questioned by me and other mariners). The last incident in 2024 was again in the Baltic when the MV Eagle S was boarded by the Finns on suspicion of sabotage who found a load of listening equipment and a ship with only one anchor. The other anchor has since been recovered, found at one end of a 12km long trench.