Estonia joins Finland-led surveillance network to track shadow fleet

Estonia will contribute its Navy maritime operations center to a Finland-led Baltic Sea surveillance network, aiming to enhance information sharing and better track the shadow fleet and sabotage risks.

Finland announced plans earlier this week to establish a maritime surveillance hub, with cooperation from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and allied nations with Baltic Sea coastlines, including Denmark, Germany, Poland, and Sweden. The initiative comes in response to a string of incidents damaging submarine pipelines and undersea cables, mostly attributed to vessels from the shadow fleet, ERR reports.

“The idea is that we are not creating anything new, but attaching this function to an already existing centre,” Brigadier General Ardo Riibon, head of the Estonian Navy’s Maritime Operations Center, said. He emphasized that while most navies maintain operational centers, “not all countries’ navies deal with monitoring civilian merchant vessels or tankers. They deal with warships, both those of adversaries and of allies.” Monitoring shadow fleet activity typically falls under civilian authorities such as the coastguard.

Under the new arrangement, Estonia and its partners will not only share intelligence but jointly analyze shadow fleet movements, map common risks, and provide “round-the-clock information exchange related to the shadow fleet,” Riibon said. A risk analyst has been appointed to represent Estonia, and international exercises are planned in connection with the initiative.

The decision to create the network followed a May meeting of Baltic Sea states’ foreign ministers, with a memorandum of understanding signed at the time. Finland formally assumed the lead role in November, while participating countries work domestically to define the structure and operation of their maritime centers.

Riibon noted that Estonia will not require additional resources or personnel, as the navy already conducts daily surveillance of its maritime area. “What is important is that we gain the opportunity to share the information we collect with other centers and to receive early warning from them about vessels of interest even before they reach our maritime area,” he said.

A common platform for real-time information exchange is also planned but will require time and consensus among all Baltic Sea nations. In the interim, Riibon suggested that emails and phone calls could serve as initial tools to enhance situational awareness.

The new hub will cover the Gulf of Finland, a key route for Russian shadow fleet vessels, complementing ongoing NATO operations such as the Baltic Sentry mission launched last January. Finland’s border guard said the center will strengthen capabilities to respond to incidents within territorial seas and exclusive economic zones.

By Vafa Guliyeva