The two pipelines Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 are damaged. It is not yet clear who is responsible for the holes. But the gas lines show how important it is to protect our underwater infrastructure.
For days, large amounts of gas leaked continuously from the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines. At least two explosions have occurred in the depths of the ocean, announced Denmark and Sweden over the past week. The result: several holes in the pipelines.
The NATO Council recently spoke of “deliberate attacks on critical infrastructure” and “ruthless acts of sabotage”. It is still unclear who or what is really behind the holes in the gas pipes.
On the other hand, it seems certain that the federal government paid too little attention to the pipelines in the past. In response to a small query made by the AfD parliamentary group in early 2022 about critical underwater infrastructure, the traffic light replied that submarine cables were mainly at risk from environmental influences.
So far, Germany has not been affected by “individual security-related incidents”. Should that change one day, the Bundeswehr would “contribute to protection on a case-by-case basis and on a scaled basis”. However, experts doubt that this will work.
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“In recent years there have been no activities by the federal government that I am aware of that have paid special attention to the protection of important underwater infrastructure,” said Oliver Rolofs, co-founder of the Munich Cyber Security Conference, in an interview with “Welt”.
He spoke of an “out of sight, out of mind” attitude that the traffic light is now falling on its feet. “For too long, despite warnings, the federal government has relied on the improbability of certain threat scenarios and an inexperienced sense of security.”
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) confirmed this indirectly. She said in connection with the Nord Stream leaks: “We have to prepare for scenarios that were hardly conceivable until recently.” The politician more or less admitted that in the past too little was concerned with underwater protection to have.
One thing is certain: the infrastructure located on the seabed is of great importance. They not only include lines for energy supply, i.e. they transport gas, oil and, in the future, hydrogen. There are also more than 400 submarine cables in the depths of the oceans, carrying 95 percent of the world’s communications traffic.
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They are important for transporting data and connecting companies with their customers. They are also used to relay government information. That makes the lines interesting for secret services. Whoever has access to the cables has power.
“The critical infrastructure secures our life, our work and our functioning as a society,” said David van Weel of the “Tagesschau”. He is with NATO “Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges”, so he deals with new threats.
Russia and China have apparently recognized the potential of the underwater infrastructure. As the “Spiegel” reports, it is above all these two countries that are trying to control the seabed. Moscow is even said to have the largest spy submarine fleet in the world.
The Russian repertoire therefore includes special mother submarines that transport smaller spy submarines. These are nuclear-powered submarines, also known as AGS.
They can dive to depths of 1000 meters and work on the seabed for several days before docking back with the mother submarine. Probably the best-known Russian AGS bears the name “Losharik”. Although there are almost no official pictures of it.
The “Losharik” is said to be equipped with gripper arms and thus be able to drill into or cut communication cables, according to “Spiegel”. For simpler tasks, Russia uses deep-sea rescue submarines or autonomous underwater drones, so-called AUVs.
This emerges from a report by the specialist portal “Naval News”. Accordingly, the surface ship “Yantar” also plays an important role, from which mini submarines and diving robots can make their way to the seabed.
It belongs to the Main Department for Deep Sea Research, Gugi for short, which reports to the Russian Defense Ministry. The “Yantar” is officially a research boat, but is now known as a spy ship.
According to Naval News, it used to be easy to follow. For some time now, however, the crew of the ship has often switched off their AIS (Automated Information System). As a result, the position of the 108 meter long boat can no longer be precisely determined.
It is clear, however, that the “Yantar” has repeatedly stayed in the vicinity of important communication cables in recent years. In 2021, for example, it was seen on the Irish coast, where the Atlantic cables run. Then in 2020 near submarine cables near Rio de Janeiro.
So Russia has the technical equipment and know-how to monitor the seabed and defend its own infrastructure. Is it also responsible for the holes in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipelines?
Nobody can say for sure at the moment. As the “Spiegel” reports, in confidential rounds in which secret service agents informed Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) about the current situation, there was talk of Russia wanting to throw the gas market into chaos. Reason enough to damage your own pipelines?
No, the Kremlin claims, blaming the West for the holes in the Nord Stream pipes. It was said on Monday that the US would increase demand for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) by destroying the pipelines. Washington denies that.
Europe now wants to take a closer look at why the pipelines really burst. As reported by “Euractiv”, Sweden sent a submarine to the damaged Baltic Sea lines on Monday.
After the events of the past few days, however, it should be clear that submarine cables and pipelines are sensitive military targets. Their destruction can cause massive damage to a society. It is all the more important to protect them adequately.
The federal government has also recognized this. Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) said last week: “The alleged act of sabotage on the Baltic Sea pipelines shows us again that we are dependent on critical infrastructure – including under water.”
Lambrecht considers a strong navy within an efficient Bundeswehr to be key to ensuring the protection of our country. One consequence of the gas leaks in the Nord Stream pipelines could therefore be that our fleet is better equipped.
However, comprehensive monitoring of the underwater infrastructure is almost impossible. This was explained to the “WDR” by the Bonn scientist Frank Umbach, an expert for energy security at the University of Bonn. Submarines that are difficult to locate, especially if they are small, could initially cause damage to cables or lines without being noticed.
In addition, according to Christian Mölling, research director of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), the geographic location of the pipelines is very transparent. In many cases it is easy to find out exactly where important lines are located.
Perhaps that is why some experts are in favor of a pragmatic approach. In other words: to encase cables near the coast more heavily in order to make sabotage more difficult.
