Swedish authorities boarded and seized a ship in the Baltic Sea on Monday after the alleged sabotage of yet another undersea data cable. Latvian authorities said the cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged on Sunday, likely as the result of external interference, reports Reuters. The suspected sabotage drew the first coordinated response from Baltic Sentry, a NATO mission set up earlier this month to protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea from "hybrid attacks" widely believed to be the work of Russia, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Unlike in some previous incidents, there was a rapid response to the suspected sabotage. Three ships, all carrying Russian cargo, were near the site of the cable damage, officials tell the Journal. Swedish authorities boarded the Maltese-flagged Vezhen, and the owners of the Norwegian-flagged Silver Dania agreed to send it to a Norwegian port for inspection by investigators. The Barbadian-flagged Pskov, however, declined to halt its journey to St. Petersburg. The ship was sanctioned by the US earlier this month amid suspicions that it is part of Russia's sanctions-busting "shadow fleet."
Alexander Kalchev, CEO of the Bulgarian shipping company that owns the Vezhen, said any damage was not intentional, the AP reports. He said the crew, sailing in bad weather Sunday, found out that an anchor had been dragged along the seabed. "I hope that the investigators will quickly establish that this is not a matter of any intentional action, but a technical incident due to bad weather, and that the ship will be released," Kalchev said. Sweden has opened a criminal investigation, though NATO authorities have said it's very difficult to prove that Russia is responsible for sabotage, the New York Times reports. (Finland seized a ship linked to Russia after a power cable was destroyed last month.)
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