The NATO move also follows a previous attack on the Nord Stream gas pipeline
Posted Date – 07:00 AM, Sun – 6/18/23
The NATO move also follows a previous attack on the Nord Stream gas pipeline
brusselsWASHINGTON: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has created a new center that will focus on protecting undersea pipelines and data cables amid concerns that Russia has mapped vital Western underwater infrastructure in Europe.
According to Al Jazeera, before NATO took this action, the Nord Stream gas pipeline was also attacked.
The new center will be based at NATO’s naval headquarters in Northwood, near London. In addition, it will be tasked with designing a new surveillance system to monitor parts of the Atlantic Ocean as well as the North Sea, Baltic, Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, Al Jazeera reported.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a conference in Brussels that the defense ministers of NATO member states had approved plans for a NATO “maritime center for the security of critical underwater infrastructure”. Al Jazeera English is an international 24-hour English-language news channel owned by the Al Jazeera media network, which is owned by the Qatari government. It is the first English-language news channel based in West Asia.
According to Al Jazeera, the initiative to protect critical Western underwater infrastructure comes in response to the alleged sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in September.
Last September, Danish and Swedish officials said leaks had been detected from Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 under the Baltic Sea off the coast of the Danish island of Bornholm.
Hans Werner Wellmann, Germany’s former three-star general, said “the threat is developing”. He explained that NATO was acting on information that Russian ships were mapping critical infrastructure in NATO-allied areas.
He further told reporters at NATO headquarters, “Russian vessels have actively mapped our critical undersea infrastructure. There is a growing concern that Russia may target undersea cables and other critical infrastructure to disrupt the lives of Westerners.” According to Al Jazeera The former German general added that the new NATO hub would bring together NATO members, allies and the private sector to help “improve information sharing on evolving risks and threats,” the report said.
Some 8,000 kilometers (5,000b miles) of oil and gas pipelines criss-cross the North Sea alone, making continuous monitoring impossible for underwater data systems, networks and grids. After chairing the meeting, Stoltenberg told reporters, “It’s impossible for us to deploy NATO along these thousands of kilometers of undersea infrastructure.” “But we can better gather … intelligence, share information, connect points, because In the private sector, there is also a lot of information about ship movements and maritime surveillance,” he said.
The new center and NATO allies are focusing on high-risk areas, such as pipelines in shallow waters accessible to drivers. Additionally, according to Al Jazeera, potential damage to data cables can be easily mitigated by simply plugging in more cables.
