Port security: Drone defense and cyber defense

Why port security is now becoming a core issue

Drone overflights in ports, sabotage of naval vessels, and cyberattacks on critical systems: The maritime security situation in the North Sea and Baltic Sea has clearly changed. As dpa reports, the security of maritime infrastructure is therefore at the center of the 14th National Maritime Conference in the East Frisian town of Emden.

The significance extends far beyond the navy and port operations. Seaports are transshipment points, logistics hubs, and interfaces of industrial value creation. When ports, subsea cables, or port logistics are attacked, it affects not only national security, but also the performance of the maritime industry, shipbuilding, and associated supply chains.

Henrik Schilling, a research associate at the Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University, describes the changed situation as follows: “Since Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the security situation has deteriorated on various levels.” Germany and Europe had long lived in a kind of peace, so the North Sea and Baltic Sea had not been regarded as a conflict zone.

The German navy is also registering a new reality at sea. According to its own statements, it is deploying submarines, maritime patrol aircraft, and frigates in the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea in order to secure sea lines of communication and monitor Russian submarines. “In the Baltic Sea we encounter Russian units almost daily and are finding that they are expanding their presence and acting increasingly aggressively toward NATO ships,” says a spokesperson for the navy command in Rostock.

How hybrid attacks target ports and infrastructure

The debate centers on the issue of so-called hybrid attacks. Schilling explains: “Hybrid attacks are actions driven by states that take place below the threshold of armed conflict and are intended to test boundaries.” These include drone overflights, physical attacks on critical infrastructure, cyberattacks, espionage, and sabotage.

“These can be drone overflights, but also physical attacks on critical infrastructure or cyberattacks.” In most cases, Russia is behind them, says Schilling. “The reasons vary, but above all they are about putting pressure on Europe, including to prevent decisions in favor of Ukraine.”

There is hardly any public information on the exact scope of such attacks on German seaports. What is clear, however, is that vulnerabilities are not limited to quays, shipyards, or access routes. They also lie in the digital space. “We are seeing a clear increase, especially in cyberattacks. We are talking about hundreds of attacks per day. Most of them are repelled.”

The navy’s ships have also recently been repeatedly targeted in suspected sabotage operations. Reported incidents include severed wiring harnesses, metal shavings in a drive system, and oil introduced into the drinking water system. The navy spokesperson sums up the situation: “There are attempts at sabotage on our ships in port and in the shipyard, we are seeing overflights by drones, attempts to intrude into our bases, and the well-known ‘anchor losses,’ which then damage or even destroy important lines and cables.”

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Port security as an industrial issue

For industry, ports are far more than just transshipment areas. They connect port logistics, shipyards, maritime suppliers, military transport, and technical infrastructure. Even today, seaports such as Emden and Bremerhaven are important hubs for military goods handled by the Bundeswehr, the U.S. Army, and NATO.

This makes port security a question of industrial capability as well. If ports as hubs fail or are disrupted, it is not only military transports that come under pressure. The maritime industry, shipbuilding, and the associated production and service capacities also move more into focus.

The Central Association of German Seaport Operators also points to growing demands on the ports, particularly in the military sphere. From the ports’ point of view, the current funding model of the federal and state governments no longer matches these tasks. According to ZDS, the investment backlog that has built up over decades in German seaports amounts to around 15 billion euros.

How operators and the navy increase resilience

Port operators in northern Germany emphasize that protecting systemically important port infrastructure is a high priority. The Lower Saxony port infrastructure company NPorts states: “The responsible security authorities assess the threat situation, and we consistently implement the measures derived from it.” This includes joint risk analyses and exercises for different scenarios.

In Bremerhaven, too, the resilience of the infrastructure is continuously reviewed and improved, according to Bremenports. The focus is on access controls, surveillance, and cybersecurity systems, among other things.

Security expert Schilling also sees progress among the operators of critical infrastructure. “A lot is happening right now,” he says. “When it comes to cyberattacks, for example, many operators of critical infrastructure are increasingly better prepared.”

According to its own statements, the navy has promptly implemented an “effective package of measures” for its naval bases. This includes anti-drone systems, a stronger presence of small units in and in front of the ports, as well as unmanned systems above and below the water. “We are making our bases more resilient,” says the navy spokesperson.

Deployment hubs: Ports as hubs in the event of conflict

In the event of conflict, the ports on the North Sea and Baltic Sea would play a central military role. Schilling points to partly classified plans by the Bundeswehr and NATO. Germany would then become the logistical hub for handling military vehicles, troops, and materiel.

The navy confirms this role: “Deployment hubs could be established at seaports to handle loading, transshipment, and port logistics specifically for military needs.”

For industry, this means that port infrastructure is no longer seen only as a transport and transshipment facility, but as a strategic platform. Port logistics, technical service providers, shipyards, and maritime suppliers are thus moving closer to security and defense policy requirements.

Schilling cites the German North Sea ports in particular as possible entry points for supplies from the United States. Hamburg would play a major role. “By land, the goods would then be transported onward—for example toward the Baltic region. The Baltic Sea ports, such as Kiel, would also be important, as the new NATO partners Sweden and Finland would have to be supplied by sea from there.”

What investments and capacities are planned

The plans in Bremerhaven are particularly concrete. A maritime logistics hub is to be built there to meet NATO’s growing requirements. The federal government is investing around 1.35 billion euros.

From the perspective of the seaport operators, however, such individual projects are not enough. The ZDS is calling for a fundamental fresh start in the financing of ports. The demands on port facilities are growing not only due to classic logistics tasks, but also because of security, military, and resilience issues.

At the same time, the maritime industry is also gaining strategic importance. Reinhard Lüken, chief executive of the German Shipbuilding and Ocean Industries Association, says that in view of geopolitical tensions, shipbuilding is increasingly being recognized as a “system-critical capability.” The ability to design and build complex ships and maritime installations is an indispensable component of technological sovereignty.

The order books of many shipyards are well filled. Naval shipbuilding in particular is benefiting from increased international demand. Naval companies are already ramping up production capacities: submarine manufacturer TKMS in Kiel is expanding its shipyard in Wismar, and Rheinmetall has begun series production of unmanned surface vessels in Hamburg.

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How the navy is responding to the new situation

The navy is currently examining whether another military port should be established on the North Sea coast. Emden and Bremerhaven are considered the favorites. There is also movement on the Baltic Sea: In Kiel, the city and the federal government recently agreed to return parts of a former naval air station site to the Bundeswehr.

The chief of the navy, Vice Admiral Jan Christian Kaack, places the expansion in a security policy context. He says the expansion of the navy serves the security of the country and its partners. “It is not an end in itself, but the necessary response to the changed threat situation.”

For the ports, this development means a dual role: they remain key industrial and logistics performers, but at the same time are increasingly becoming part of security policy infrastructure. Port security is thus becoming a location factor for industry, the navy, and maritime value creation in the North Sea and Baltic Sea.

With material from dpa