The Baltic Sea faces increasing threats to its underwater infrastructure, prompting Nordic-Baltic nations to explore legal and practical solutions to counter suspicious activities and protect vital cables and pipelines.

The bloc announced new steps to prevent threats to undersea lines after Sweden discovered damage to one east of Gotland island.

Swedish police said on Friday they were investigating a suspected case of sabotage of an undersea telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea, and the country’s coast guard deployed a vessel to the area where multiple seabed cables have been damaged in recent months.