An undersea fiber-optic cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged on Sunday, likely as a result of external influence, Latvia said, triggering an investigation by local and NATO naval forces in the Baltic Sea.
"It has been determined that there is most likely external damage and that it is significant," Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina told reporters after an emergency government meeting.
Latvia is working with NATO and the Baltic countries to clarify the circumstances of the incident, the prime minister said in a separate post on the X platform.
The Latvian Navy said earlier on Sunday that it had sent a patrol boat to inspect one ship, while two other vessels were also under investigation.
Several thousand commercial ships pass through the Baltic Sea at any given time, and many passed the damaged cable on Sunday, data from ship tracking service MarineTraffic showed.
One of those ships, the Maltese-flagged cargo ship Vezhen, was under close surveillance by the Swedish Coast Guard on Sunday evening, MarineTraffic data shows, with both vessels heading towards Sweden's southern coast, CNN reports.
It is still unclear whether the ship "Vezhen", which passed the fiber optic cable at 00:45 GMT on Sunday, is the subject of an investigation.
A spokesman for the Swedish Coast Guard declined to comment on the Vezhen or the position of the coast guard ships.
"We are at a stage where we cannot give any information," the spokesman said. "Exactly how we are involved in this, we cannot say."
Bulgarian shipping company Navigation Maritime Bulgare, which listed the “Vezhen” as part of its fleet, did not immediately respond to calls and emails from Reuters after hours.
Cooperation with NATO
Swedish Navy spokesman Jimmy Adamson previously told Reuters that it was too early to say what caused the cable damage, whether it was intentional or the result of a technical failure.
"NATO ships and aircraft are working together with national resources from Baltic Sea countries to investigate the incident and, if necessary, take appropriate measures," the alliance said on Sunday.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country is cooperating closely with NATO and Latvia.
"Sweden will provide significant capacity in the ongoing efforts to investigate the suspicious incident," Kristersson wrote on the X platform.
NATO announced last week that it would deploy frigates, patrol aircraft and naval drones to the Baltic Sea to help protect critical infrastructure, noting that it reserves the right to take action against ships suspected of posing a security threat.
The military alliance is undertaking an operation called "Baltic Sentry" after a series of incidents in which energy cables, telecommunications links, and gas pipelines were damaged, all in the context of the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022.
Finnish police seized a tanker carrying Russian oil last month and said they suspected the vessel had damaged the Finnish-Estonian power cable Estlink 2 and four telecommunications cables by dragging its anchor along the seabed.
The Finnish Prime Minister stressed in a statement that the latest damage to the cable further highlights the need for increased protection of key undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.
The cable that was severed on Sunday connects the Latvian city of Ventspils to the Swedish island of Gotland and was damaged in Sweden's exclusive economic zone, the Latvian Navy said.
Communications providers were able to redirect traffic to alternative routes, the cable operator, Latvian State Radio and Television Centre (LVRTC), said, adding that it was looking for a vessel to begin repair work.
"The exact nature of the damage can only be determined after repairs to the cable begin," the LVRTC said in a statement.
A spokesman for the operator said the cable, which is located at a depth of more than 50 meters (164 feet), was damaged in the early hours of Sunday morning, but did not specify the exact time of the incident.
Unlike undersea gas pipelines and power cables, whose repairs can take months, fiber optic cables damaged in the Baltic Sea are usually repaired within a few weeks.
A spokesperson for the Swedish Post and Telecommunications Agency said they were aware of the situation, but had no further comment at this time.
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