Sweden seizes ship that departed from Russia over Baltic Sea cable damage
Swedish prosecutors have ordered the detainment of a Malta-flagged vessel and opened an investigation into suspected “aggravated sabotage” after damage to an undersea fiber optic cable in the Baltic Sea on 26 January 2025, AP reports.
This is the fourth undersea cable sabotage incident in the Baltic Sea since late 2023.
According to AP, the Swedish Coast Guard confirmed to Expressen they were on site with the seized ship Vezhen, which is now anchored near the naval port of Sweden’s Karlskrona. According to Vesselfinder data cited by AP, the vessel had departed from the Russian port of Ust-Luga days earlier and was navigating between Gotland and Latvia when the suspected damage occurred.
“Several authorities, including the National Police Operations Department, the Coast Guard and the Armed Forces, are involved in the investigation,” senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said, according to AP.
Undersea cable damage
The incident came to light when Latvia’s state-run radio and TV center recorded disruptions in data transmission on the cable connecting the town of Ventspils to Sweden’s Gotland island.
The Latvian navy dispatched patrol boats to investigate multiple vessels in the area, according to Reuters. MarineTraffic data showed the Vezhen passed the fiber optic cable at 0045 GMT on 26 January before being escorted to Swedish waters by a Swedish coastguard vessel.
NATO has deployed ships and aircraft under its recently launched “Baltic Sentry” mission to investigate the incident, the alliance said in a statement reported by Reuters. The Telegraph notes this comes days after Russia’s allegations that NATO vessels carry “abuses” in the Baltic Sea under the guise of this patrol mission.
The damaged cable, laid at depths exceeding 50 meters, is expected to be repaired within weeks, unlike gas pipelines and power cables which typically require months of repairs, Reuters says. Latvia’s state-run radio and TV center continues operations using alternative data transmission routes.
Previous incidents
The incident follows several recent infrastructure disruptions in the Baltic Sea.
- Finnish police last month seized a Russian “shadow fleet’s” oil tanker Eagle S suspected of damaging the Finnish-Estonian Estlink 2 power line and telecoms cables.
- Last November, the Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 was suspected of severing two fiber-optic data cables, one connecting Finland and Germany and the other running between Sweden and Lithuania.
- In October 2023, Finnish police identified the Newnew Polar Bear, a Hong Kong-registered container ship, and the Russian nuclear-powered cargo ship Sevmorput as suspected of involvement in the damage to the Balticconnector natural gas pipeline and telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland on 7 October. Both vessels are also suspected of possible involvement in damage to the EE-S1 submarine communications cable between Sweden and Estonia.
Related:
- Russian shadow fleet’s Eagle S remains under arrest as damage claims mount
- Finland says Russian shadow fleet tanker crew planned more cable sabotage before arrest
- Swedish navy recovers Russian shadow fleet tanker’s anchor in Finnish Gulf cable damage case
- Russia’s strategic Ust-Luga port targeted by drones for second time in a year
- German FM calls for more Russian shadow fleet sanctions after Baltic cable damage
- Russia’s navy-escorted tanker targets Bundeswehr helicopter with warning flares in Baltic
- Russia systematically spying on strategic Western infrastructure in Baltic and North Sea
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