The United Kingdom is leading a Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) and NATO effort to track Russian “Shadow Fleet” vessels in Northern European waters, in real time, to protect critical undersea infrastructure, the United Kingdom’s defense minister announced Monday.
The operation began last week in the wake of the disruption of power service and communications cables from Finland to other Baltic states on Christmas Day, according to a U.K. release.
“The UK and JEF are leading the way in providing support to our allies to help safeguard the offshore infrastructure we all rely on against potential threats,” Defense Minister John Healey told the House of Commons Monday.
He said the operation – dubbed Nordic Warden – will “help protect against both deliberate acts of sabotage as well as cases of extreme negligence which we have seen cause damage to underwater cables.”
USNI News reported Finnish authorities seized the Russian oil tanker Eagle S after the country’s police opened a criminal investigation into what they considered aggravated criminal mischief. Authorities believe a dragged anchor cut the cable.
“Harnessing the power of AI, this UK-led system is a major innovation, which allows us the unprecedented ability to monitor large areas of the sea with a comparatively small number of resources, helping us stay secure at home and strong abroad,” Healey said in a government release.
The Ministry of Defense said the UK-led “reaction system” would use AI to monitor large areas of the sea and track vessels by drawing on a variety of data, including the Automatic Identification System (AIS). Ships use AIS to broadcast their position.
Specific vessels identified as part of Russia’s shadow fleet have been registered into the JEF’s system so they can be closely monitored. The term “shadow fleet” refers to aging tankers and merchantmen – often without insurance and under various flags such as the Cook Islands – carrying oil and bulk cargo from Russia, which has been put under sanction since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Any identified risks will be flagged, with immediate alerts sent to JEF members and NATO allies to ensure coordinated responses.
In early 2023, NATO announced the creation of a Critical Undersea Infrastructure Coordination Cell at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, of which the JEF is an outgrowth. The force is a coalition of 10 Northern European nations to provide security in land, air and maritime domains. Members include Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK.
Twenty-two areas of interest – including parts of the English Channel, North Sea, Kattegat and Baltic Sea – are being monitored from the JEF’s operational headquarters in Northwood, northwest of London, where personnel from all JEF nations work side by side.
A joint force news release said Nordic Warden was first tested last summer and again during the JEF’s Exercise Joint Protector. During that exercise, 300 personnel from Northwood went to Latvia to test the JEF’s ability to deploy from the UK on short notice.
The UK has led international efforts through a global alliance to disrupt the shadow fleet, Healey said. The UK has sanctioned 93 oil tankers that Russia has used to soften the blow of sanctions to pay for the war in Ukraine. Monday’s announcement complements last month’s agreement among the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Finland and Estonia to request proof of insurance from suspected shadow vessels as they pass along the Baltic route.
The Christmas Day incidents in Finnish waters followed the breaching of cables from Sweden to other Northern European countries in November. For a month, the Chinese bulk carrier Yi Ping 3 sat motionless in international waters. It was suspected of causing the breaks that occurred over two days.
Denmark worked with the Chinese government to allow an inspection of the vessel. No results of the on board investigation have been released.
The ship was allowed to proceed to Port Said, Egypt.
