Estonian Defence Minister: EU May Introduce Baltic Sea Tax to Fund Underwater Cable Protection
The European Union may introduce a tax on the use of the Baltic Sea for shipping companies to cover the cost of protecting critical infrastructure submarine cables.
This was stated by Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur, Reuters reports.
‘One day, we may see that companies will have to pay a certain amount when passing through the Danish straits,’ Hanno Pevkur said.
In essence, the tax will be an ‘insurance fee for possible damage’ to seabed infrastructure. As an example, the Estonian defence minister cited airports that charge passengers a landing fee that is included in the ticket price.
Other measures to protect underwater infrastructure are also being considered. In particular, the installation of sensors to detect anchors that are ‘dragged’ by the bottom and the construction of protective structures around cables, the Estonian Minister of Defence noted.
However, all these measures are too expensive. As a result, consumers will have to pay more through higher taxes or utility bills. Instead, a tax on Baltic shipping could help avoid this. EU countries will have to make a decision on this issue in the near future, Pevkur added.
Over the past few months, the Baltic Sea has seen many incidents of external deliberate damage to cables in the interests of Russia. As a result, the NATO fleet has stepped up patrols in the region.
In November 2024, Finland reported damage to a submarine telecommunications cable that runs through the Baltic Sea with Germany. At the same time, cables between Sweden and Lithuania were reported to have been broken.
In December, there were two new breaks in the internet cable on land in Espoo and Vihti between Sweden and Finland. In the same period, the Estlink 2 submarine cable connecting Finland and Estonia was damaged. The Central Criminal Police Office suspects that the damage to Estlink 2 in the Gulf of Finland, which connects Finland and Estonia, was most likely caused by the anchor of the Eagle S tanker, which is believed to be involved in Russia's shadow fleet.
In January 2025, the Helsinki District Court arrested a tanker suspected of damaging cables in the Baltic Sea. The crew of the tanker accused of cutting cables in the Baltic Sea planned to further damage cables and pipelines, said Risto Lohi, head of investigation at the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation. The crew of the tanker posed a threat to Estlink 1, another power line between Finland and Estonia, as well as to the BalticConnector gas pipeline.