According to the defense secretary, the United Kingdom is procuring two specialized ships to protect against any future attacks on cables supplying the country with natural gas or internet connectivity.
A Royal Navy frigate has been dispatched to the North Sea in response to last week’s suspected disruption of the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) stated that the ship was collaborating with the Norwegian navy “to reassure individuals operating in the vicinity of the gas pipelines.”
The European governments believe that the damage to the pipes beneath the Baltic Sea could only have been caused by an attack, and Russia is heavily suspected.
The Kremlin has denied responsibility and instead placed blame on the West.
Gazprom announced on Monday that the pipelines are no longer leaking. The gas giant reported that the pressure in the damaged pipelines had stabilized and that it was pushing gas out of the undamaged string B of Nord Stream 2 so that its integrity could be evaluated.
Since four pipeline leaks were discovered near Bornholm Island in Denmark, methane has been gushing up.
A British defense official told that the strikes likely involved underwater explosives and were certainly premeditated.
Sunday addressing the Conservative Party conference, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace stated that Russia makes “no secret” of its capabilities to target underwater infrastructure.
The damage to the pipelines, which stretch from Russia to Germany, demonstrated, according to him, that “the Nordic states and ourselves are extremely vulnerable to somebody tampering with our cables and pipes.”
Mr. Wallace stated that the United Kingdom would purchase two specialized ships to secure the network, as “internet and electricity are strongly dependent on pipes and cables”
“The first multi-role survey ship for seabed warfare will be acquired by the end of this year, fitted out in the United Kingdom, and put into service by the end of the next year,” he stated.
“The second ship will be constructed in the United Kingdom, and we will ensure that it addresses all of our vulnerabilities.”
On Monday, Mr. Wallace met with other ministers of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) to discuss what the Department of Defense termed a “blatant and irresponsible” strike.
It was stated in a statement that the members had resolved to boost their presence in the region, as well as “intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance activities,” to discourage such attacks and reassure friends.
The JEF focuses on security in the regions of the High North, North Atlantic, and Baltic Sea.
It encompasses the United Kingdom, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.
