Baltic undersea cable likely damaged by external force, Latvia says By Reuters

By Andrius Saitas

VILNIUS (Reuters) – An underwater fiber-optic cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged on Sunday, possibly by an outside influence, Latvia said, prompting an investigation by local and NATO maritime forces in the Baltic Sea.

“We found out that, most likely, there is external damage, and it is significant,” Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina told reporters after the extraordinary session of the government.

Latvia is coordinating with NATO and the countries of the Baltic Sea region to clarify the circumstances, he said separately in the X post.

The Latvian Navy said on Sunday that it had sent a patrol vessel to inspect the vessel and that two other vessels were also under investigation.

Up to several thousand commercial ships pass through the Baltic Sea at any given time, and some of them passed the broken cable on Sunday, data from the ship-tracking service MarinTraffic showed.

One such vessel, the Maltese-flagged freighter Vezhen, was closely followed by a Swedish coast guard vessel on Sunday evening, MarineTraffic data showed, and the two headed for the southern Swedish coast.

It was not immediately clear whether Vezhen, which crossed the fiber optic cable at 0045 on Sunday, is under investigation.

A spokesman for the Swedish coast guard declined to comment on Vezhen or the position of the coast guard vessels.

“We are at a stage when we cannot give any information,” said the press spokesperson. “We cannot say exactly how we are involved.”

Bulgarian shipping company Navigation Maritime Bulgare, which has the Vezhen in its fleet, did not immediately respond when Reuters called and emailed outside office hours.

NATO COOPERATION

Swedish Navy spokesman Jimmy Adamson told Reuters earlier that it was too early to say what damaged the cable, whether it was intentional or a technical fault.

“NATO ships and aircraft are working with the national resources of the Baltic Sea countries to investigate and take action if necessary,” the alliance said in a statement on Sunday.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson announced that his country closely cooperates with NATO and Latvia.

“Sweden will contribute to ongoing efforts to investigate the alleged incident,” Christerson told X.

NATO announced last week that it will deploy frigates, patrol planes and naval drones to the Baltic Sea to help protect critical infrastructure and reserves the right to take action against ships that pose a security threat.

The military alliance is launching an operation called “Baltic Guard” following a series of incidents in which power cables, telecommunications links and gas pipelines were damaged following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Last month, Finnish police seized a Russian oil tanker and said they suspected the vessel had damaged the Finnish-Estonian Estlink 2 power line and four telecommunications cables by dragging its anchor across the seabed.

The Finnish prime minister said in a statement that the latest cable damage underscores the need to increase protection of critical underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.

The Latvian city of Ventspils has connected the Swedish island of Gotland with a cable that broke on Sunday, the Latvian Navy said.

Communication providers were able to switch to alternative transmission routes, the cable operator Latvian State Radio and Television Center (LVRTC) said in a statement, adding that it was seeking to sign a contract with the ship to begin repairs.

“The exact nature of the damage can only be ascertained once the cable repair work has started,” LVRTC said.

A spokesman for the operator said the cable, which is laid more than 50 meters deep, was damaged early Sunday morning, but declined to specify the exact time of the incident.

Unlike undersea gas pipelines and power cables, which can take months to restore after damage, damaged fiber optic cables in the Baltic Sea are usually restored within weeks.

Sweden Post and Telecommunications (BCBA.) A spokesperson for the authority said it was aware of the situation but had no further comment.