XPost: misc.transport.marine, talk.politics.guns, sac.politics
XPost: se.transport.sjofart, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
From: nuke@china.cn

Swedish authorities have seized a ship suspected of damaging a data
cable running under the Baltic Sea to Latvia.

The Vezhen - a Maltese-flagged ship - is now anchored outside the
Swedish port of Karlskrona.

Prosecutors said an initial investigation pointed to sabotage. An
inquiry has been launched involving Sweden's police, military and coast
guard.

Images shared by Swedish media showed that the ship appeared to have a
damaged anchor.

However, on Monday, Bulgarian shipping company Navigation Maritime
Bulgare, which listed the Vezhen among its fleet, said one of the ship's anchors dropped to sea floor in high winds and that there was no
malicious intent.

On Sunday, Latvia's military reported that three ships were seen in the
area where the damage occurred.

Less than a month ago, Nato launched a new mission in the Baltic Sea in response to repeated attacks on underwater power and telecom cables –
some of which have been blamed on Russia.

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina said her country was working closely
with Sweden and Nato in response to the incident.

The cable belongs to Latvia's state broadcaster, LVRTC, which said in a statement there had been "disruptions in data transmission services",
but that end users would be mostly unaffected.

Earlier this month, Nato launched its new Baltic Sentry mission, after
several cables under the Baltic Sea were damaged or severed in 2024.

Nato chief Mark Rutte said the mission would involve more patrol
aircraft, warships and drones.

While Russia was not directly singled out as a culprit in the cable
damage, Rutte said Nato would step up its monitoring of Moscow's "shadow
fleet" - ships without clear ownership that are used to carry embargoed
oil products.

Rutte said there was "reason for grave concern" over infrastructure
damage, adding that Nato would respond to future incidents robustly,
with more boarding of suspect vessels and, if necessary, their seizure.

Finnish police said late last year they were investigating whether a
Russian ship was involved in the sabotage of an electricity cable
running between Finland and Estonia.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqx9g5wwp89o

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