Sweden has 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.

There has been a sharp rise in damage to undersea cables in the Baltic, with at least 11 incidents reported since October 2023.

The cargo ship is suspected of being involved in causing serious damage to a fibre cable between Latvia and Sweden. Read more at straitstimes.com.

After a series of suspected undersea cable cuttings, NATO has launched a new surveillance and deterrence mission to protect critical infrastructure under the Baltic Sea.

A subsea cable connecting Latvia to Sweden’s Gotland island is the latest cable to be damaged in the Baltic Sea. Owned by Latvia’s State Radio and Television Centre (LVRTC), the cable’s Ventspils–Gotland segment was damaged early on January 26, at depths of 100m.

Sweden detained a vessel suspected of damaging a subsea data cable connecting it with Latvia, the third such incident in the Baltic Sea in the past three months.

A Bulgarian shipping company on Monday denied that one of its ships had intentionally damaged an underwater fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland.

Swedish authorities have seized a ship suspected of damaging a data cable running under the Baltic Sea to Latvia.Prosecutors said an initial investigation pointed to sabotage, and an inquiry has been launched involving Sweden's police,

Police in Norway said Friday they had released a Russian-crewed cargo ship seized over suspected involvement in damage to a fibre-optic cable in the Baltic Sea, having found no evidence linking it to the incident.

The Russian crew and Norway-owned shipping company are cooperating with the authorities, police say, days after Sweden detained another vessel.

Police in the Norwegian port of Tromso say they have seized a vessel sailing between two Russian ports. Swedish and Latvian investigators are looking into the severing of an underwater cable under the Baltic Sea.