Swedish prosecutors on Sunday night announced that they have opened a preliminary investigation into suspected aggravated “sabotage” and ordered the detention of a vessel in the Baltic Sea suspected of damaging an underwater fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland earlier that day.
“Several authorities, including the National Police Operations Department, the Coast Guard and the Armed Forces, are involved in the investigation,” Swedish National Security Unit senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist was quoted as saying in a news release.
The Swedish Coast Guard confirmed to the newspaper Expressen that they were on site near the vessel which the paper identified as the Malta-flagged Vezhen, at anchor near the port of Karlskrona.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We are directly on site with the seized ship and are taking measures as decided by the prosecutor,” Swedish Coast Guard spokesman Mattias Lindholm said.
According to data from Vesselfinder, the vessel departed from the Russian port of Ust-Luga several days earlier and was navigating between Gotland and Latvia at the time the damage was suspected of having occurred.
Latvia State Radio and Television Center (LVRTC) on Sunday said that it recorded disruptions in data transmission on the cable running from the town of Ventspils to the Swedish island of Gotland and concluded there was a rupture.
The media organization said it was able to operate using other data transmission routes, while it was taking steps to have the cable repaired.
“At the moment, there is reason to believe that the cable is significantly damaged and that the damage is caused by external influences,” LVRTC head of corporate communications Vineta Sprugaine was quoted as saying by Public Broadcasting of Latvia.
Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina wrote on X that her government was “working together with our Swedish Allies and NATO on investigating the incident, including to patrolling the area, as well as inspecting the vessels that were in the area.”
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote on X that at least one cable belonging to a “Latvian entity” was believed to have been damaged and that he had been “in close contact” with Silina.
Sunday’s rupture follows a string of incidents that have heightened fears of Russian sabotage and spying in the strategic region. There have been previous incidents reported of ruptures of data cables running on the Baltic sea bed, allegedly linked to Russia’s shadow fleet — hundreds of aging tankers of uncertain ownership that are dodging sanctions and keeping oil revenue coming into the country.
Earlier this month, NATO began a new mission dubbed “Baltic Sentry” which included frigates, maritime patrol aircraft and a fleet of naval drones to provide “enhanced surveillance and deterrence” in the Baltic Sea.
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