Finland's Border Guard plans to establish a maritime surveillance center in collaboration with other Baltic Sea countries and the EU Commission to prevent damage to undersea critical infrastructure in the Gulf of Finland.

Baltic Sea Region on High Alert

After a string

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, there have been numerous power cable, gas pipeline and telecom link outages. The most recent

incident occurred

On New Year's Eve, Finnish authorities arrested a cargo ship en route from Russia to Israel under suspicion of sabotaging a submarine telecoms cable.

The Finnish surveillance center is part of the joint action plan, which includes NATO's increased military presence in the region, including aircraft, frigates and drones.

The European Commission proposed

The Border Guard said that in February of last year they had enhanced the security of sub-marine cables.

Mikko Hirvi is the Head of Maritime Safety and Security for the Finnish Border Guard. He said: "We're developing and?we need, broader prevention measures even before harm has occurred."

He declined to say which capabilities are already operational.

Hirvi stated that the surveillance centre will be built in stages, using the existing Border Guard capabilities. Finland also plans to seek EU funding.

After a

Chinese container ship

After damaging a gas pipeline in 2023 and cables on the Baltic Seabed, the Finnish authorities boarded two vessels. The oil tanker and the cargo ship.

Eagle ?S

The cargo vessel will be in service from December 2024.

Fitburg

In December 2025, on suspicion that they have severed underwater cables by dragging anchors.

Hirvi stated that by seizing the vessels, authorities prevented further damage from occurring.

Mikko Smola, the commander of Gulf of Finland Coast Guard district, stated that factors to be monitored include unusual deviations in vessel speed or course.

He said, "We have been focusing on real-time data about vessel deviations for the last year."

(source: Reuters)