Sweden has detained a vessel that damaged a cable in the Baltic Sea.

The Swedish Security Service has detained a vessel suspected of major sabotage as part of its investigation. Another underwater cable has been damaged in the Baltic Sea.

This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the Swedish prosecutor's office.

The underwater fiber optic cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged on January 26, likely due to external interference. This prompted NATO to send patrol ships to the area, while Swedish authorities initiated an investigation into the sabotage.

"We are currently conducting a number of specific investigative activities, but I cannot go into details as the preliminary investigation is not yet complete," said senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist.

NATO is coordinating military ships and aircraft as part of its recently deployed mission called "Baltic Guardian." These efforts follow a series of incidents where power cables, telecommunication lines, and pipelines were damaged after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina stated that her government is coordinating actions with NATO and other countries in the Baltic Sea region to clarify the circumstances of the latest incident.

"We have determined that there are likely external damages, and they are significant," Silina told reporters after an emergency government meeting.

Earlier, the Latvian Navy announced that it had sent a patrol boat to inspect the vessel, and two more ships are also subject to inspection.

According to the ship tracking service MarineTraffic, up to several thousand commercial vessels pass through the Baltic Sea at any given time, and several of them passed by the severed cable on Sunday.

MarineTraffic reported that one such vessel, the bulk carrier Vezhen flying the Maltese flag, was escorted into Swedish waters by a Swedish Coast Guard vessel on Sunday evening. It later anchored at the Swedish naval base in Karlskrona in southern Sweden.

Cooperation with NATO

Swedish Navy representative Jimmy Adamsson earlier told Reuters that it is too early to discuss the causes of the cable damage and whether it was a deliberate act or a technical failure.

"NATO ships and aircraft are working together with national resources from the Baltic Sea countries to investigate and, if necessary, take action," the alliance stated.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson stated that his country is closely cooperating with NATO and Latvia.

Last week, NATO announced that it would deploy frigates, patrol aircraft, and maritime drones in the Baltic Sea to protect critical infrastructure and reserves the right to take action against vessels suspected of posing security threats.

Last month, Finnish police detained a tanker carrying Russian oil and stated that they suspect the vessel damaged the Finland-Estonia power transmission line Estlink 2 and four telecommunication cables by dragging its anchor along the seabed.

The Prime Minister of Finland said that the latest cable damage highlights the need to enhance the protection of critical underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.

According to the Latvian Navy, the severed cable on January 26 connected the Latvian city of Ventspils with the Swedish island of Gotland and was damaged in Sweden's exclusive economic zone.

The cable operator, the Latvian State Radio and Television Centre (LVRTC), stated that service providers were able to switch to alternative data transmission routes, adding that it is attempting to contract a vessel to begin repairs.

"The exact nature of the damage can only be determined after the repair work on the cable begins," LVRTC said.

A representative of the operator reported that the cable was laid at a depth of over 50 meters.

Unlike underwater pipelines and power cables, which can take months to repair after damage, fiber optic cables damaged in the Baltic Sea are typically restored within a few weeks.