Norway will strengthen the security of submarine cables after sabotage at Nord Stream

The Norwegian government has allocated NOK 43 million ($4.3 million) to improve the safety of equipment on the continental shelf. First of all, the protection of submarine fiber-optic cables will be strengthened. These measures are being taken because of the September sabotage at Nord Stream.

“Marine fiber optic cables form an important part of the digital infrastructure on the continental shelf. The new technology can detect potential threats to submarine fiber optic cables, for example by analyzing acoustic signals. website Norwegian government.

To secure these cables, new equipment capable of detecting interference to satellite services on the Norwegian continental shelf, such as GPS, will be purchased. The government also ordered the development of new technology to detect threats to submarine cables, as well as the means to conduct surveys of critical sections of such cables.

Norway’s Minister of Municipalities and Regions, Sigbjørn Jälsvik, said the government is also developing other measures that can quickly improve the security of the digital infrastructure on which oil and gas production on the Norwegian continental shelf depends.

The operation of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines was interrupted at the end of September. First, the pressure dropped sharply on them, the next day three of the four lines were damaged by explosions. An investigation by Norway and Sweden found that the explosions were the result of sabotage. Whether the last, surviving branch of the gas pipeline will ever be launched is not yet clear. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz named it’s “unlikely”.

Anastasia Larina