Bulgarian “Navigation Maritime Bulgares”, which owns the bulk carrier “Vezhen” that sails under the Maltese flag, denies intentionally damaging the underwater optic cable connecting Latvia and Sweden, as reported by Reuters.
Footage released on Monday by Swedish public broadcaster SVT shows coastguard officers boarding the vessel “Vezhen” at night. This vessel is suspected of sabotaging the optical cable belonging to the Latvian State Radio and Television Centre (LVRTC) in the Baltic Sea. The ship was diverted to Swedish waters and anchored south of Karlskrona, where it will remain for the foreseeable future. There is a coastguard speedboat and patrol boat nearby.
As previously reported, the cable was damaged early in the morning in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone.
The Swedish prosecutor’s office said late Sunday that serious sabotage is under investigation and that a ship has been arrested in connection with the incident. According to Swedish media, the arrested vessel is Vezhen, owned by the Bulgarian shipping company Navigation Maritime Bulgares.
The ship left Russia on Friday and was en route to Skagen in Denmark. On Sunday at about 1 o’clock it crossed the area of the cable connecting Latvia to the Gotland Isle.
Photographs from the ship show one of its anchors missing a blade, but it’s unclear when this damage occurred.
Navigation Maritime Bulgares denies that its vessel had intentionally damaged the cable and claims that the anchor may have fallen due to adverse weather conditions.
Given that the alleged crime may be directed against the interests of Sweden, it is being investigated by the Security Police (SÄPO). However, the representative of SÄPO refused to disclose the circumstances that lead to the suspicion of “Vezhen” specifically.
No people have been detained in connection with the investigation as of yet.
Previously, there have been several incidents in the Baltic Sea, when critical underwater infrastructure was damaged due to “possible Russian sabotage”. NATO announced in early January that it would launch a new mission to protect infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.
The European Union (EU) has sanctioned dozens of Russian “shadow fleet” ships, but Russia is believed to have many more. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has announced that there are likely to be 600 to 1 000 ships in Russia’s “shadow fleet.”