Records show Dutch Coast Guard lacks means to guard North Sea cables despite threats
The Dutch Coast Guard lacks the staff, funding, and capacity to protect vital internet cables, power lines, and pipelines in the North Sea against espionage and sabotage, even as intelligence services warn the threat remains high and a cargo ship carrying explosive chemicals recently moved through Dutch waters, according to internal government documents cited by NRC.
The documents show the Coast Guard will be unable to carry out meaningful protection of offshore infrastructure until at least 2027. At the same time, Russia-linked activities at sea have reportedly increased since the invasion of Ukraine, and in October 2024 a drifting cargo vessel loaded with ammonium nitrate—the explosive used in the 2020 Beirut blast—ultimately sailed to Rotterdam after being turned away elsewhere.
The findings come from internal records of the Coast Guard and the ministries of Infrastructure and Water Management, Economic Affairs, and Climate and Green Growth, obtained by NRC under the Open Government Act, as well as papers recently sent to parliament. The records focus on the Programma Bescherming Noordzee Infrastructuur, or PBNI, launched in early 2023 by six ministries after the Ukraine war to protect critical North Sea infrastructure from sabotage and spying.
Nearly three years later, the program has barely moved forward because no ministry has agreed to provide long-term funding, despite intelligence services describing the threat as “undiminished.”
The Coast Guard’s operational limitations are severe. A unit tasked with analyzing suspicious signals operates only during office hours, and the control room was staffed at about half the required level in 2024. Reports from private parties, including wind farm operators and fishermen, cannot be assessed and are only “accepted and forwarded,” increasing the risk that suspicious vessels go unnoticed.
The Coast Guard, which supports police, customs, and the Marechaussee at sea, stopped its already limited offshore infrastructure protection tasks in 2023 because of budget constraints. Internal documents state that any expansion of security efforts must place “as little demand as possible on time or capacity.” The Coast Guard said it has since recruited and trained staff, reducing control-room shortages compared with 2024.
Security concerns in the North Sea have intensified since 2022. Believed to be acting on behalf of Russia or China, vessels have damaged electricity and internet cables on the seabed. Two Nord Stream gas pipelines were destroyed, an attack German prosecutors attribute to a group of Ukrainian officers.
The Netherlands’ dependence on offshore infrastructure has grown sharply. Within four years, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management anticipates that the North Sea will supply about three-quarters of the country's electricity consumption. A 2023 Coast Guard memo said the war in Ukraine has also increased reliance on domestic offshore oil and gas platforms.
General Onno Eichelsheim, commander of the armed forces, warned last summer alongside EU defense commissioner Andrius Kubilius at a conference in The Hague that Europe must strengthen its defenses at sea. “Putin dreams of a divided Europe,” Eichelsheim said. “But we are united in repelling Russia.”
Internal government correspondence reportedly shows that unity has not extended to financing. When PBNI was launched, no funding was allocated. “To date, coverage is lacking. We find that strange,” the Inspectorate of Government Finance wrote in an email in late 2023. Infrastructure and Water Management said it first needed an action plan and threat analyses before costs could be set, adding that “requesting financing without submitting a plan is not possible.”
Once costs were identified, ministries reportedly contributed very little and asked the Finance Ministry to pay from general funds. It refused, citing the cabinet’s caretaker status, and declined to join funding talks. An Infrastructure and Water Management official responded that the program was not optional, writing that it was initiated “at the request of the National Security Council.”
Only after the then-Prime Minister Mark Rutte intervened did the caretaker cabinet release 17 million euros for 2024 and 25 million euros for 2025. Officials warned the funding was temporary and insufficient. “Without structural investments, little remains to strengthen protection of North Sea infrastructure,” an Infrastructure and Water Management official wrote.
Internal estimates put annual costs at 44.2 million euros from 2025, rising to about 100 million euros from 2031, with roughly 46 million euros a year needed for the Coast Guard from 2027. The ministry now estimates that the Coast Guard will require about 70 million euros annually starting from 2030.
Up until now, the Coast Guard has only achieved "quick wins" like buying cameras and radar systems and initiating a pilot project to enhance threat assessments. Even when suspicious vessels are detected, there are often too few personnel or ships to respond.
The acquisition of an additional Coast Guard patrol vessel was delayed for financial reasons and described internally in 2024 as an “unacceptable scenario.” The leased vessel, operated by tug company Muller, is now expected to enter service in 2026.
Information sharing among the Coast Guard, Navy, intelligence services, police, and prosecutors also reportedly remains weak. A recent report commissioned by Infrastructure and Water Management found that signals were sometimes assessed days later by intelligence agencies or the navy, while decisions on intervention were made using incomplete information.
No long-term funding solution has been agreed upon. Only 5 million euros has been set aside for 2026. Infrastructure and Water Management caretaker Minister Robert Tieman told parliament last month that it will be up to the next cabinet “to decide on the continuation of the Programma Bescherming Noordzee Infrastructuur,” although an action plan and governance advice have now been completed.
