Cargo Ship Accidentally Damaged Baltic Subsea Cable, Sweden Confirms

Swedish prosecutors confirmed on Monday that the cargo ship Vezhen accidentally damaged a subsea cable connecting Sweden and Latvia on January 26.

The incident, which was initially suspected of sabotage, was caused by a combination of bad weather, equipment failures, and poor seamanship, according to Swedish authorities.

The Maltese-flagged vessel was released after the investigation concluded that the damage was not intentional. Senior Prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist stated that the ship’s anchor severed the cable, but he made it clear that it was not a case of sabotage.

“We can say with certainty that this is not a case of sabotage,” Ljungqvist said, pointing out that the damage was a result of a series of unfortunate factors, not deliberate action.

The prosecutor explained that two of the three locking mechanisms designed to prevent the anchor from dropping had been out of service for a long period, and the third lock was a manual one.

“We have film footage showing a wave hitting the lock, which caused the anchor to drop,” he added. The ship continued to drag its anchor for over 24 hours, which went unnoticed by the crew.

According to Ljungqvist, the ship’s autopilot system attempted to compensate for the anchor’s pull, but the crew failed to notice the change in the ship’s speed.

Swedish authorities seized and boarded the Vezhen on January 27, the day after the cable was damaged. However, after a detailed investigation, including crime scene analysis, and the collection of testimonies, the prosecutors ruled out any malicious intent.

“An investigation is continuing to find out whether other crimes may have been responsible for the cable break,” the prosecutor’s statement said.

The Vezhen was owned by the Bulgarian shipping company Navibulgar, which had denied any intentional wrongdoing. The company explained that the ship was sailing in extremely bad weather, and the left anchor had dragged along the seabed.

A series of undersea cable ruptures in the Baltic Sea has led to fears of Russian sabotage, especially after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

In response, NATO had already deployed frigates, aircraft, and naval drones to protect critical infrastructure in the region and warned it might take action against ships suspected of posing a threat.

In another related case, a Norwegian cargo ship named Silver Dania, which had an all-Russian crew was initially suspected of being involved in the cable damage.

The ship was seized in Norway at Latvia’s request but was later cleared of any wrongdoing and released after authorities found no evidence linking it to the damage.

References: Reuters, AP News

Source: Maritime Shipping News