NATO is deploying eyes in the sky and on the Baltic Sea to protect cables and pipelines that stitch together the nine countries with shores on Baltic waters

Shipping firms may need to pay a fee to use the Baltic Sea, one of the world's busiest shipping routes, in order to cover the high costs of protecting undersea cables, Estonia's defence minister said on Wednesday following a spate of breaches.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb admitted there is no certainty about who is responsible for the cable breaks in the Baltic Sea. Local media suggest that authorities may be covering up Russia's role.

Nato countries have stepped up patrols to protect critical underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, which is bordered by eight countries, and other waters. A Royal Navy submarine was ordered to surface last November close to a suspected Russian spy ship which was loitering over undersea infrastructure in UK waters.

After a series of suspected undersea cable cuttings, NATO has launched a new surveillance and deterrence mission to protect critical infrastructure under the Baltic Sea.

TradeWinds reported this week that Bulgarian bulker owner Navibulgar admitted that one of its ships may have cut an undersea cable in the Baltic Sea over the weekend, but dismissed sabotage claims.

Russia has condemned the Western alliance for ramping up its naval presence in the so-called 'NATO lake' after alleged sabotage by Moscow-linked vessels.

Sweden has opened a preliminary investigation into suspected aggravated “sabotage” and ordered the detention of a vessel in the Baltic Sea suspected of damaging an underwater fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland earlier that day.

A Bulgarian shipping company on Monday denied that one of its ships had intentionally damaged an underwater fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland.

Sweden is investigating damage to a data cable linked to Latvia, the latest breach in the Baltic Sea region where European authorities are on high alert.

TALLINN, Jan 30, BNS – A 52-year-old Estonian man, identified by the police by his first name as Vaido, who traveled to Egypt last October and was declared missing in mid-January, died while in Egypt. Police contacted Egyptian authorities and learned that the man they were looking for had died in that country, spokespeople for the police told BNS.