Sweden Detains Maltese-Flagged Ship Over Suspected Sabotage of Undersea Cable

Swedish authorities have detained the Maltese-flagged cargo ship Vision, registered under a Bulgarian shipping company, on suspicion of involvement in the sabotage of an undersea fiber-optic cable linking Latvia and Sweden in the Baltic Sea.

According to Euronews, the Swedish Coast Guard boarded and detained the vessel after allegations surfaced that it caused damage to the vital communication cable, raising fresh concerns over potential sabotage in the region.

The cable operator reported indications suggesting the damage was caused by external forces, prompting Swedish prosecutors to launch a preliminary investigation into possible sabotage. The Vision, a large cargo ship crewed by eight Bulgarian officers and nine Myanmar sailors, is believed to be responsible for the incident.

Reports indicate that two days before the incident, the ship departed from the Russian port of Ust-Luga, bound for South America with a load of fertilizers.

Alexander Kalchev, the head of the Bulgarian shipping company Navigation Maritime Bulgare, acknowledged the possibility of the ship damaging the cable but dismissed any notion of deliberate sabotage or crew misconduct.

This event follows a series of similar incidents reported in the past two months, involving undersea infrastructure between Lithuania and Sweden, Germany and Finland, as well as Estonia and Finland. These disruptions have heightened concerns about hybrid threats, including cyberattacks and physical sabotage, allegedly linked to Russian activities in the Baltic region.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock described the pattern of incidents as more than mere coincidences. “In the Baltic Sea, GPS signal disruptions and drone surveillance of critical infrastructure have been reported repeatedly,” Baerbock stated, emphasizing that the European Union and NATO have ramped up their security measures in the region over the past weeks.

This latest incident underscores the growing vulnerability of undersea infrastructure and the urgent need for coordinated efforts to protect it from hybrid threats.