The Swedish Coast Guard is the civilian authority at sea responsible for maritime surveillance and maritime information for other authorities. In a deteriorating security situation in particular, the Coast Guard must be able to detect and act on anomalies at sea, for example as a result of hybrid influence or activity that threatens security.

Activate movie-cookies to watch the movie Så arbetar Kustbevakningen med sjölagesbilder

Cooperation and proactive work

For the maritime situational picture to work as a real tool, technical systems and analytical capability are not enough. Coordination is also needed. Cooperation with other authorities is the foundation for building a robust maritime situational picture.

An important principle in work on maritime situational pictures is to understand what is "normal", so that anything that deviates can be detected.

The aim is to detect a possible threat. This is when the maritime situational picture becomes a real tool for proactive work.

Maritime surveillance centre for civil maritime surveillance

On 1 September 2025, the Coast Guard started a maritime surveillance centre for civil maritime surveillance. The tasks of the maritime surveillance centre include producing normal situational pictures and laying the foundation for situational pictures that describe the situation in real time. They also include maintaining a forward-looking maritime situational picture for the next seven days. Within the framework of the maritime surveillance centre, we have also started cooperation with other key actors, such as the Swedish Armed Forces, the Swedish Maritime Administration, Svenska kraftnät (Swedish National Grid) and the Finnish Coast Guard.