NATO ramps up Baltic Sea patrols amid cable sabotage fears
"NATO is being very active at the moment on Baltic Sea," writes a Finnish blogger, presenting a map showing the location of German, Danish, and Swedish units. Their activities are related to the damage of an underwater cable, with suspicion falling on the Chinese freighter "Yi Peng 3," currently anchored in the Kattegat Strait.
9:26 AM EST, November 24, 2024
Last Sunday and Monday, two underwater telecommunications cables were damaged. One connected Lithuania with Sweden and the other connected Finland with Germany. Both failures occurred in the Swedish economic zone.
On Wednesday, Swedish police stated that the crew of the Chinese ship "Yi Peng 3," which departed from a Russian oil port, is the main suspect. On the same day, the Danish armed forces confirmed their presence near the ship in the waters of the Kattegat Strait.
Following this incident, increased NATO activity in the Baltic Sea has been observed.
"NATO is being very active at the moment on Baltic Sea. German patrol boat, Danish naval vessels & Swedish Coast Guard ship are guarding the Chinese freighter ship Yi Peng 3 anchored at Kattegat Strait. At the same time Finnish/Swedish ships are investigating the cable breaks," wrote a Finnish blogger on the X portal. They also presented a map showing the location of these units.
On Saturday, the same author reported on a Russian missile corvette that stopped in the Kattegat Strait "to monitor the situation of the Chinese cargo ship Yi Peng 3 suspected of cable violations in the Baltic Sea."
Lithuanian Prime Minister: NATO countries must respond appropriately
As stated on Friday by Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, the European Union and NATO countries must respond appropriately to incidents in the Baltic Sea if investigations prove they are hybrid attacks.
The response to these events involves considering the activation of articles of the North Atlantic Treaty. Finnish politicians have pointed to the possibility of applying both Article 4, concerning consultations in situations of threat to a NATO member, and Article 5, concerning collective defense.
Parallel investigative actions are underway regarding the damage to a pipeline between Estonia and Finland, which occurred in the fall of last year. In the context of this investigation, suspicions have fallen on the Chinese container ship "NewNew Polar Bear." The current findings have not clarified whether the pipeline damage was the result of deliberate action or an accidental incident.
