Polish patrol vessel SG-301 General Józef Haller joins EU coast guard operation MMO Baltic Sea 2026

More than 1,000 nautical miles covered in five days, patrols across Polish waters and the exclusive economic zones of Lithuania and Latvia, and a constant flow of data to international command centres. The offshore patrol vessel SG-301 General Józef Haller of the Polish Border Guard's Kashubian Squadron has completed its deployment in the Multipurpose Maritime Operation Baltic Sea 2026 (MMO Baltic Sea 2026), a joint undertaking of three European Union agencies and five member states in the region.

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21 july 2026   |   07:26   |   Source: Gazeta Morska   |   Prepared by: Kamil Kusier   |   Print

fot. Łukasz Zwoliński / MOSG

Five days of round-the-clock duty

From 10 to 15 July, the crew of SG-301 patrolled Polish maritime areas as well as the exclusive economic zones of Lithuania and Latvia. Officers kept watch over the assigned section of the Baltic day and night, covering more than 1,000 nautical miles and cooperating continuously with their Lithuanian and Latvian counterparts.

Reporting was at the heart of the mission. The crew kept command centres updated on the current surface picture and any incidents observed, feeding data into a shared maritime situational awareness system. That system is a cornerstone of the international framework for information exchange and coordinated action, spanning cross-border patrols, EU satellite services and long-range remotely piloted aircraft provided by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).

Three agencies, five states, one objective

MMO Baltic Sea 2026 was launched on 26 June by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) and EMSA, together with five member states: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. The initiative aims to strengthen security and protect the marine environment across the Baltic Sea region.

The task list assigned to SG-301 reflects the multipurpose character of the operation. The vessel was responsible, among other things, for monitoring shipping traffic in the operational area, including detecting and identifying suspicious vessels, countering illegal migration and ensuring safety of navigation. Added to that were the protection of member states' subsea energy and critical infrastructure, detection of marine pollution and surveillance of fishing grounds.

A proven format for a new security environment

Multipurpose maritime operations are the flagship model of cooperation between EU agencies and member states on coast guard functions. In the Baltic, the format has been running since 2023, and this year's edition is the fourth in a row. The legal basis for the joint work of Frontex, EFCA and EMSA is the Tripartite Working Arrangement, which allows the three agencies to pool their assets and expertise under a single operational plan.

The scale of the undertaking has grown year on year. By way of comparison, in the 2024 edition the agencies coordinated 230 patrol activities and 47 missions by remotely piloted aircraft systems, logged more than 430 sightings, carried out around 135 hailing procedures and 30 boarding operations, while the 12 maritime assets involved spent a combined total of more than 2,650 running hours on the Baltic. The European Union Maritime Security Strategy explicitly identifies the MMO model as a tool for building interoperability between services, particularly relevant given the complex and evolving threats in the region.

Information exchange and a training ground for crews

Representatives of the participating states are in no doubt that operations of this kind deliver on two levels. The first is operational: faster exchange of incident information and a tangible improvement in maritime security across the region. The second is training. Working alongside partners from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland, operating within international reporting procedures and using EU surveillance tools provides crews with experience that cannot be fully replicated in national exercises.

At a time when protecting subsea critical infrastructure and monitoring suspicious activity in the Baltic have become priorities for the states of the region, the presence of the Polish flag in such operations carries practical as well as signalling value. SG-301 General Józef Haller returns to service with the Kashubian Squadron of the Border Guard with another deployment in its record, while MMO Baltic Sea 2026 continues.

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Straż Graniczna MMO Baltic Sea 2026 Morze Bałtyckie bezpieczeństwo morskie Frontex

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