Sweden will contribute up to three warships and an ASC 890 surveillance aircraft to bolster NATO defense against sabotage of underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, the Swedish government said on Sunday.
The Swedish Coast Guard said it would contribute four ships to help monitor the Baltic, plus another seven vessels on standby, AP News reported.
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The deployment followed the latest EstLink 2 undersea power cable damage between Finland and Estonia on Dec. 25, with Finnish authorities later boarding and seizing the ship believed to have dragged its anchor and damaged the cable.
Finnish customs officials said the vessel was likely part of Russia’s “shadow fleet,” transporting Russian oil without insurance to bypass Western sanctions.
Sweden said on Jan. 4 that it would send a submarine rescue vessel to aid Finland’s investigations following the incident.
Numerous similar incidents, including the Arelion telecommunications cable between the Swedish island of Gotland and Lithuania that was cut on Nov. 17 and the C-Lion 1 submarine cable connecting Helsinki and the German port of Rostock that was cut a day later south of Sweden’s Oland island, have heightened concerns of potential Russian sabotages.
Stockholm said on Sunday the deployment would mark Sweden’s first contribution to NATO’s defense and deterrence following the country’s joining of the bloc in March 2024.
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