US and Nordic-Baltic partners agree to increase subsea infrastructure safety

Norway, its Nordic-Baltic allies, and the U.S. have agreed to take steps to enhance the security of subsea infrastructure, including undersea cables and pipelines. This measure is part of a broader effort to lessen vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure and safeguard national and regional security. 

“An important part of the measures we have now agreed on to protect subsea cables includes better involvement of the private sector in this work,” said Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Espen Barth Eide.

According to the Norwegian government, the growing risks to undersea assets have pushed Norway to prioritize collaboration with neighbors and allies. 

“Damaged cables and pipelines on the seabed expose a vulnerability that is important for Norwegian security. We must work together with our neighbors and with the United States on this issue. I am also pleased that NATO is putting this on the agenda with the meeting they have had with the countries around the Baltic Sea [littoral states of the Baltic Sea] today,” Eide added.

“For Norway, which has several thousand kilometers of subsea cables, it is very important to prevent attacks on this infrastructure.”

Last November, Norway endorsed the joint statement on the security and resilience of undersea cables in a globally digitalized world. The statement outlines principles for ensuring the safety, reliability, and resilience of subsea cables through better planning, deployment, maintenance, and repair practices.

At NATO’s Defence Ministers’ Meeting in October 2024, Norwegian Defence Minister Bjørn Arild Gram and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius led discussions to bolster NATO’s role in protecting undersea infrastructure.

Norway has identified several measures to bolster security, including harmonizing real-time situational awareness and incident information sharing among governments, allies, and private stakeholders; fostering public-private partnerships to expand repair and maintenance fleet capacity; and encouraging commercial operators to establish a database to share information on cable faults, repairs, and delays.

Additionally, streamlining equipment import/export processes is expected to enable faster transportation of repair tools and materials, the Norwegian government noted.

“The participants will increase coordination in these areas through NATO, ongoing U.S.-Nordic-Baltic consultations, and all other relevant fora between Allies and partners,” the Norwegian government noted.

The move comes after a number of recent incidents in European waters. Namely, the Finnish police is still investigating damage caused in 2023 to the Balticconnector gas pipeline, as well as several telecom cables, said to likely have been caused by a ship dragging its anchor.

On December 25, 2024, Finland’s transmission system operator (TSO) Fingrid reported to the authorities the possible failure of Estlink 2, prompting an immediate investigation into the chain of events of the incidents as well as whether a foreign cargo ship was involved in the damage.

Investigation into the damage has found a dragging track on the seabed that is dozens of kilometers long.