Title: Sweden Probes Potential Sabotage of Baltic Sea Telecom Cable
Article Text:
Swedish authorities are currently investigating a potential act of sabotage on an undersea telecommunications cable that spans the Baltic Sea between Germany and Finland. This inquiry follows a spate of similar incidents affecting undersea cables and gas pipelines since the onset of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, prompting NATO to initiate a surveillance operation in the region last month.
The Swedish Coast Guard has deployed a research vessel to an area east of Gotland, Sweden's largest island, where the cable damage was reported. Sweden’s Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, acknowledged the incident, emphasizing its significance against the backdrop of heightened regional security tensions.
The cable's owner, Finnish telecom company Cinia, reported slight damage to its fiber-optic cable but confirmed that it remains operational. This marks the third instance of damage to this particular cable in recent months, with a previous severance occurring in November of the previous year.
Recent months have seen an uptick in undersea infrastructure damages in the Baltic Sea, often caused by civilian ships inadvertently snagging cables with their anchors. While European leaders have raised suspicions of Russian involvement in these breaches, investigations have also attributed some incidents to natural elements, equipment malfunctions, and human error. Notably, the Bulgarian ship Vezhen was recently exonerated by Swedish authorities after being investigated for potential sabotage.
Swedish police have characterized their ongoing inquiries as related to "suspected sabotage," although the exact timing of the damage remains unclear. The Coast Guard stated, "We have dispatched the ship KBV 003 to the area east of Gotland, within the Swedish economic zone, to aid in the crime scene investigation."