STORY: Hours after two communication cables were severed in the Baltic Sea, one of northern Europe’s largest ever naval exercises got underway. 30 NATO vessels and 4,000 military staff took to the water for the 12-day 'Freezing Winds' drill.

Freezing Winds' drill was part of a push to step up the transatlantic defence alliance's protection of infrastructure in waters that carry 15% of global shipping traffic and are seen as increasingly vulnerable to attack.

The Baltic Sea, a hub for maritime trade and critical infrastructure, has become a growing point of concern. Recent incidents, such as damaged undersea cables and rising tensions, have brought its security into focus.

In response to possible sabotage incidents, NATO has bolstered its presence in the Baltic Sea with naval drills and enhanced monitoring technologies. The strategic move is aimed at protecting critical infrastructures like communication cables and pipelines,

In the most recent case, two undersea fibre-optic communications cables located more than 100 nautical miles (about 200 km) apart in the Baltic Sea bottom were severed subsequently on Nov. 17 and 18, raising suspicions of sabotage by bad actors.

Sweden has sent a formal request to China to cooperate with an investigation into suspected sabotage over the sudden disruption of two submarine internet cables in the Baltic Sea earlier this month, after tracking data linked a Chinese ship to the incidents.

The Baltic Sea region has seen several cases of suspicious damage against underwater critical infrastructure since 2022, but authorities have been unable to find sufficient proof of deliberate malicious intent to press charges.