NATO is intensifying its activity to ensure the safety of its members. Recently, the SNMCMG1 ships have appeared in the waters of the Pomeranian Gulf.

Operation Baltic Sentry is gaining momentum. NATO ships, which are tasked to monitor key routes for navigation and critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, are also firmly marking their presence in Polish waters. At the beginning of March this year, the vessels of SNMCMG1 (Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1), one of the four groups of the NATO Response Forces, arrived in Świnoujście. “We are here to refill fuel, water, and food supplies, in short, to restore readiness for further action,” explained Cdr Eric Kockx, the group commander. Soon, the ships returned to the sea, but for a moment we were allowed to look behind the scenes of the mission carried out by the ship crews.

NATO Line Ahead

On the open decks, there are containers with food and equipment, a spacious bridge, and heavy machine guns on the sides – the HNLMS Luymes vessel makes quite an impression. It is a Dutch hydrographic research vessel, but it can successfully serve as a platform for the command of the mine countermeasure forces. In mid-January, it was on board this vessel that the headquarters for commanding the SNMCMG1 activities was placed. “Currently, the group consists of four ships. In addition to HNLMS Luymes, there are also mine destroyers: HNLMS Schiedam from the Netherlands, HSwMS Ulvön from Sweden, and HNoMS Hinnoy from Norway,” lists Cdr Eric Kockx. The first two will operate with the Poles in the Pomeranian Gulf, and the last one will perform tasks in another part of the Baltic Sea.

We are now approaching the Świnoujście harbor lighthouse, passing cranes, warehouses of goods, and vessels moored at the quay. Finally, on the starboard, there is the LNG Terminal – one of the key spots in the economic bloodstream of Poland. This is where the tankers filled with liquefied natural gas are guided, and the deliveries themselves are the link of a complicated puzzle to ensure Central Europe’s independence from Russian raw materials. Operation Baltic Sentry was initiated, among others, to protect the undisturbed functioning of such installations.

Meanwhile, HNLMS Luymes is already on the high seas. Next to us, the silhouettes of other ships can be seen. There are two above-mentioned mine destroyers and the ORP Rear Admiral Xawery Czernicki from the 8th Coastal Defense Flotilla. X, as the mariners call the ship, took part in the missions of mine countermeasures groups several times. Now, the vessel will join the SNMCMG1 again – this time for a few hours to practice.

To begin with, the ships line ahead. They go one after the other, then make a turn. Soon, they appear on our left. In the next few hours, they will change their position a few more times. Such maneuvers are an integral part of any exercise. The ship crews refresh the liaison procedures and practice cooperation in accordance with the NATO rules. This is one of the ways to strengthen interoperability, which is one of the pillars of the Alliance. NATO consists of 32 countries. In their home countries, NATO soldiers and mariners speak different languages, sometimes also use different equipment. But during joint operations, missions, or on the battlefield, they must understand each other instantly to function like a well-oiled mechanism.

The exercise scenario also includes checking the seabed. We go to the stern of the ship, where the towed sonar waits to be lowered into the water. The vessel will drag the sonar behind, and the image will be transmitted directly to the operator’s station through optical fibers. “The sonar can work practically 24/7. It happened that we used it every day for two weeks while in the North Sea,” admits Cdr Sjoet, a Dutch officer from the HNLMS Luymes crew (as he explains, for his safety, he can only reveal his rank and name; only some crew members can make their full data public – including the team commander and the commanders of individual ships). The device has already been used during Operation Baltic Sentry. “We scanned the bottom in the areas where critical infrastructure is located, also in Polish waters. Now, we have a picture of underwater installations, complemented with data provided to us by the Polish Navy. If we receive any disturbing signals, we’ll inspect the pipelines and cables again. Then, we’ll overlay one image on another to check if all is fine,” the officer explains. Similar tasks are carried out not only by the command ship. Soon, I will have the opportunity to accompany other ship crews.

How to Build Awareness

Putting on an orange uniform, which is to protect me from wind and water, is quite the feat. Especially if you’re wearing winter boots and a stable jacket. After a few minutes of wrestling, however, I managed to zip up. Now, I need to only put my life jacket on and I’m ready to get on the boat. I take a seat just behind the helmsman, and the crane slowly lowers us to the sea. A few minutes later, the boat ploughs through the peaceful waters of the Baltic Sea. We are heading towards the Swedish HSwMS Ulvön mine destroyer. Soon, we are catching up, but the ship does not slow down. The crew members drop the rope ladder, which I painstakingly climb up the ship’s broadside. When I step on deck, I breathe a sigh of relief.

The HSwMS Ulvön is a Koster-class vessel. It is nearly 50-m long and has a crew of 30 officers, non-commissioned officers, and seamen. In a sense, they are making history. Ulvön is the first Swedish ship to permanently join the NATO team. “We joined the Alliance recently, but we have been cooperating with NATO ships as part of the Partnership for Peace since 1997. We know the procedures. Therefore, this mission is a bit of a »business as usual« for us,” assures Cdr Mathias Hägberg, commander of the vessel.

Before we learn about the tasks of the crew during the exercise, the officer takes us for a short walk on the vessel. We visit a small bridge, from which we can see a 40-mm cannon mounted on the bow – the main weapon against threats from air and sea surface. Next, we visit the Combat Information Center (CIC), where, around the clock, the crew members on their watch collect data from the ship’s sensors. The collected data help to build the so-called situational awareness, or in other words – provide information about what is happening in the vicinity of the ship underwater, on its surface, and above it.

After visiting the CIC, we go down to the lower deck to see the cycloidal propellers, which makes the Ulvön capable of turning back almost on the spot. Finally, we stop for a moment next to underwater vehicles. The crew members have two types of such devices at their disposal. They use Sea Foxes – kamikaze drones to blow up mines and unexploded ordnance. The most important, however, is Saab’s Double Eagle Mk II. This vehicle weighing 340 kg can dive down to a depth of up to 350 m. It is used to identify objects resting at the bottom, and if necessary, it can place explosive charges under them; it will also be used during the ongoing exercise.

I go to the ship stern again. The crew members in helmets already bustle around the vehicle. One of them – using the drone operator’s console – checks the rotors and lights. Finally, the Double Eagle is picked up by a crane and lowered into the sea. The rotors start to spin in the water and the vehicle slides against the ship’s broadside for a moment, and finally disappears under the water. Only a thick, orange cable that connects it to the deck sticks out. I go to the bridge again. There, one of the monitors displays the image recorded by the Double Eagle camera. The mission does not last long – barely about an hour. As the ship’s commander admits, the vehicle was lowered into the sea before and will be many times more. “We will be part of the SNMCMG1 for a total of two months. Then, we will be replaced by the twin ship: the HSwMS Kullen,” announces Cdr Mathias Hägberg.

NATO is Watching

The exercises in the Pomeranian Gulf lasted only one day. Afterward, the ships went on another patrol. The SNMCMG1 is assumed to operate in all waters of northern Europe. Currently, however, the group’s activity is concentrated mainly in the Baltic Sea, which is the consequence of Operation Baltic Sentry. The impetus for launching this operation was a series of incidents at the end of last year. At that time, ships sailing to and from Russian ports several times damaged the seabed infrastructure. The anchors, towed on the sea bottom, damaged the power and telecommunications cables. Earlier on, under similar circumstances, the Baltic Pipe between Finland and Estonia was destroyed. Although the ships responsible for this sail under different flags, many clues lead to Russia. Experts repeat that a hybrid war against the West has been unleashed in the Baltic Sea for good, and NATO is trying to remedy this.

Cdr Eric Kockx admits that for the past few weeks, the SNMCMG1 crews have observed strange behavior of ships. “Some vessels, on seeing us, would suddenly stop, and change course. Their intentions are difficult to prove, but I am sure that our presence protected the infrastructure from further destruction,” he emphasizes. He also adds that NATO patrols are a kind of demonstration. It is a signal to opponents: “Whatever you are going to do, better give up, because it will be noticed and will meet with an adequate response.” What the response may be like was recently shown by the Finns who stopped and took the Eagle S tanker to port, which was suspected of damaging, among others, the EstLink 2 power cable. The ship stood idle in the Finnish port for two months, which caused huge losses for its owners.

Polish Operation Bay

Meanwhile, Operation Baltic Sentry is not the only such operation. Poland has been carrying out its maritime critical infrastructure shielding operation for nearly three years. As part of Operation Bay, the vessels of the 3rd Ship Flotilla and the 8th Coastal Defense Flotilla regularly go to sea. The Maritime Operations Center – Maritime Component Command (COM-DKM) in Gdynia commands the operation. “The situation in the Baltic Sea remains unstable, and it is changing dynamically,” admits Rear-Admiral Piotr Sikora, Commander of the 8th Coastal Defense Flotilla. The ships under his command are constantly monitoring the situation related to the movement of gas carriers in the vicinity of the Świnoujście LNG terminal. They also guard the nearby Baltic Pipe, which is used to pump gas from Norway. The destroyers of the 8th Coastal Defense Flotilla, stationed in Gdynia, patrol the Gulf of Gdansk and the southeastern part of the Baltic Sea. There, among others, go the shipping routes leading to the Tri-City container terminals, as well as the oil port in Gdańsk. Meanwhile, critical infrastructure at sea is increasing. Soon, a wind farm and a floating gas terminal will be built off the Polish coast. “Any suspicious activity of vessels in these waters will be meticulously checked by us,” Rear-Admiral Piotr Sikora points out.

Operation Bay is not completely detached from Operation Baltic Sentry. The NATO countries located on the Baltic Sea exchange information on an ongoing basis to minimize the risk of further incidents. Although, unfortunately, it should be assumed that future attempts to strike critical infrastructure most probably will not stop. Russia, even after the possible conclusion of a truce or peace ending the war in Ukraine, will not give up its imperial ambitions. There is little chance of that now. The main opponent of the Kremlin remains the West – recently limited primarily to European countries. The Baltic Sea itself, on the other hand, due to the specific law in force on the seas, is a convenient space for conducting hybrid activities – a substitute for open war, which, for the time being, the Russians will probably not decide to launch for various reasons.
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Translated by Anita Kwaterowska