Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur (Reform) said negotiations are underway to that would see the maritime operations center run by countries on rotation in the future.

"Regarding the maritime domain, we have always maintained that the Baltic Sea cannot be divided in terms of defense, which is why NATO has agreed that the countries bordering the Baltic Sea will jointly establish a maritime operations center for its defense. Initially, Germany will take primary responsibility. Negotiations are currently underway on whether and how Sweden and Poland could be involved to introduce a rotation system, similar to the air policing mission, where various countries contribute to Baltic air security on a rotating basis," Pevkur told Tuesday's "Aktuaalne kaamera."

This week, the minister plans to submit a bill to the government that would give the navy greater rights to respond to suspected sabotage.

"This means that the Navy will gain the authority to intervene in Estonia's exclusive economic zone as well. There is already no question about territorial waters — that authority is already in place. We are drafting a law that will grant the Estonian Navy the right to intervene in the exclusive economic zone in international waters if necessary. This can be done in cooperation with the Police and Border Guard Board, for example, by using their helicopter or the K-Commando unit, or by involving foreign partners," Pevkur said.

He said the preparation of this bill is nearly complete. "I really hope that we can already discuss this in the government this Thursday [January 9]. The message is certainly very clear: if anyone intends to deliberately act against Estonia's critical infrastructure, such actions will be prevented or stopped," he said.

The Estonian Navy needs larger vessels and decisions will be made by the end of the first quarter of 2025.

Former Navy Commander Jüri Saska said the existing ships were purchased according to to what was on the market at the time. But Estonia needs a more systematic approach going forward.

"We have three identical minehunters, only one minelayer, and four different types of patrol vessels. These patrol vessels, however, do not possess significant military capability. It can be said that, at present, they offer no capability beyond their presence," he told the show.

"In the future, there could be fewer types of vessels — maybe two, maybe three. This would help reduce the logistical footprint, improve maintenance arrangements, streamline training, and so on," he added.

As underwater infrastructure attacks could increase, Saska believes it is necessary to decided who has responsibility to protect pipelines and cables.

"The protection of underwater infrastructure has not been directly assigned to anyone, as it is a relatively new issue, despite the fact that the first major incidents already happened a year ago. If no one is responsible for it, then no one takes responsibility, and we end up in the same situation every time — standing there with a broken system, wondering who did what, who did not do anything, and why nothing has been started yet. I am not necessarily saying that it must be the Navy within the Defense Forces, but at least for now, it seems to me to be the most natural choice," he said.

The role of underwater surveillance systems is also becoming larger. The Navy has tested cooperation, for example, with the Dutch company Lobster Robotics, whose submarine drones can quickly capture what is happening at sea. 

"I see a clear trend in the industry that we are moving towards autonomous underwater drones with increasingly better sensors," said Stephan Rutten, CEO of Lobster Robotics, told AK.

Pevkur said the government is keeping an eye on the technology.

"Underwater surveillance is certainly an area we are focusing on. We don't have as good a picture as, for example, the Swedes or Finns. Essentially, it involves a certain monitoring and sonar system solution that would use artificial intelligence to detect unfamiliar or previously unidentified sounds, such as an anchor dropping into the water or onto the seabed. This would then send a signal to the Maritime Surveillance Operations Center, which would allow for a response," the minister said.

Over the past 18 months, several pipelines, electricity and data cables have been damaged by ships dragging their anchors in the Baltic Sea. The most recent occured on December 25.

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