Fearing Sabotage, Europe Patrols Pipelines With Mine Hunters and Unmanned Subs

Until recently, the Italian navy didn’t spend much time inspecting underwater pipelines. That changed on Sept. 26, when explosions ripped through the Nord Stream natural-gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea in an apparent act of sabotage. Since then, protecting the pipelines, energy grids and natural-gas terminals that keep Europe’s lights on and homes heated has become a national-security priority across the continent.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, Moscow gradually throttled gas exports to Europe, exposing the perils of depending on Russian oil and gas. The blasts at the Nord Stream pipelines, which carried gas from Russia to Germany, revealed another European weakness: the vulnerability of its infrastructure to physical attacks.

While no European government has named a suspect in the blasts, some European officials said they assume that Russia was responsible. Russia has denied having anything to do with explosions.

Protecting Europe’s energy infrastructure is a gargantuan task. There are more than 6,000 miles of gas pipelines that cross Norwegian waters and the Mediterranean Sea, and more than 1,000 offshore oil-and-gas installations in European waters. Energy and security analysts said any attacks on them akin to the Nord Stream blasts would take months, if not years, to fix because of how difficult it is to reach the pipes and the damage seawater can cause.

The Italian navy’s mine hunter unit, which until recently was more focused on finding and defusing World War II mines and bombs, now is continuously scanning pipelines carrying gas to the nation. “We have increased our patrols above and below the surface, including with submarines, remotely guided underwater vessels and the air force,” said Adm.

Giuseppe Cavo Dragone,

Italy’s chief of defense staff. “It’s not just about detecting if something has happened. The very fact we are conducting surveillance serves as a deterrent.”