Sweden seizes ship suspected of damaging Baltic undersea cable

The Swedish Prosecution Authority has confiscated a ship suspected of damaging an underwater fiber optic cable linking Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland, it said in a press release issued late Sunday.

A criminal investigation into suspected serious sabotage has been launched, the authority said, though it did not disclose the ship's name or nationality.

According to Swedish newspaper Expressen, the vessel is the oil tanker Vezhen, registered in Malta and sailing from Russia. The ship is currently anchored off Karlskrona in southeastern Sweden, maritime analytics provider Marine Traffic confirmed.

The cable's owner, SJSC Latvian State Radio and Television Center (LVRTC), said they detected disruptions in data transmission early Sunday and suggested that the cable was likely seriously damaged by external force. The affected section lies within the Swedish economic zone, Swedish National Radio reported.

Promising to provide internet service via other data transmission routes, LVRTC said since the cable runs on the seabed at a depth of more than 50 meters, the character of the damage would be established once repairs are started.

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina convened an extraordinary meeting of ministers and emergency services on Sunday, announcing later that Latvia is working with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Baltic Sea countries to investigate the incident.

The Latvian naval forces have sent a patrol boat to inspect the site and contacted NATO allies about the incident.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that he had been in contact with Silina on this issue, promising Sweden would provide "important resources for the investigation."

This incident adds to a series of recent disruptions to undersea internet and energy cables in the Baltic Sea.