Sweden seizes ship suspected of 'sabotage' after Baltic Sea cable damage
Swedish authorities on Monday boarded a Bulgarian-owned ship seized in connection with the latest breach of underwater fiber-optic cables running along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to begin an investigation into the matter.
The Swedish coast guard chased and intercepted a Bulgarian ship after a fibre-optic cable under the Baltic Sea linking Sweden to Latvia was damaged, its owner said on Monday.
Latvia sent a warship on Sunday to investigate the damage, while Swedish prosecutors opened an "aggravated sabotage" investigation.
Nations around the Baltic Sea have scrambled to bolster defences after the suspected sabotage of undersea cables in recent months, with some observers blaming Russia.
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The Bulgarian vessel on Sunday "was chased by the Swedish coast guard with instructions for the ship to go into their territorial waters and it is now on anchor where an investigation ... is ongoing," Alexander Kalchev, CEO of Navigation Maritime Bulgare (Navibulgar), owner of the Vezhen, told AFP.
The ship – constructed in 2022 – has a crew of eight Bulgarians and nine Myanmar nationals.
(AFP)
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