The Baltic Sea region is in a state of high alert after a series of incidents of power cables, telecommunication cables and gas pipeline disruptions since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in 2022.
The NATO military alliance has increased the presence of warships, aircraft, and drones in the Baltic Sea.
Over the weekend, Finland released the Eagle S oil tanker - a ship suspected of severing power cables and 4 data cables in the Baltic Sea late last year. Finnish police have yet to reach a conclusion on the incident and some investigations are still ongoing.
Juha Martelius, head of Finland's security and intelligence agency Supo, called cable breaks in the Baltic Sea a "secondary problem" but noted that the frequency of these incidents has been "unusual" in recent years.
In the national security assessment released by Supo on March 4, Mr. Martelius said that there are currently many ships of the Russian shadow fleet in the Baltic Sea, so the possibility of incidents will certainly be higher.
However, he noted that Western countries should consider the threat to critical underwater infrastructure.
"I want to separate anchorages - regardless of the underlying cause of the incidents - from the fact that there is a real threat to critical underwater infrastructure," the Finnish security and intelligence agency said, noting that state actors who are capable of causing underwater sabotage are more effective at just pulling anchors and breaking cables.
