When the cable was damaged, the "Silver Dania," which was traveling the route from St. Petersburg to Murmansk, was nearby. The police are investigating its potential involvement in the incident. The detention was carried out at the insistence of the Latvian authorities.
The break in the fiber optic cable between Latvia and Sweden occurred on January 26. The cable, located at a depth of about 50 meters, belongs to the state joint-stock company "Latvian State Radio and Television Centre." The data transmission monitoring system detected a failure in the section connecting the Latvian port of Ventspils and the Swedish island of Gotland. Latvian authorities reported suspicions that the cable was damaged due to "external influence."
Earlier, the Swedish police detained another vessel that was in the same region at that time — the bulk carrier "Vezhen," which is registered in Malta and is part of the fleet of the Bulgarian company Navigation Maritime Bulgare.
The bulk carrier was en route from the Russian port of Ust-Luga to Latin America with a cargo of fertilizers. It is currently anchored at the Swedish port of Karlskrona. The head of the Bulgarian company, Alexander Kalchev, issued a statement on Monday categorically rejecting the possibility of intentional sabotage by the crew of the "Vezhen," but mentioned that under very poor weather conditions, the anchor could have fallen overboard and damaged the cable laid along the seabed.
News release from Radio Svoboda: