Sofia, Bulgaria — The Swedish coast guard chased and intercepted a Bulgarian ship after a fiber-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 defenses after the suspected sabotage of undersea cables in recent months, with some observers blaming Russia.

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.

He denied involvement in any sabotage. “I am convinced that we cannot say … that this was a malicious act,” he added.

The Malta-flagged vessel carrying fertilizer from Ust-Luga in Russia and headed for South America was sailing in “extremely bad weather” on Saturday based on the information given to him by the crew, Kalchev said.

An inspection on Sunday found that “one of the ship’s anchors was damaged and the anchor had dropped into the sea, which means that it was possible that it had dragged along the sea floor,” he said, adding the anchor was then pulled up.

‘Full solidarity’

Navibulgar, Bulgaria’s biggest shipping company, said it had appointed an agent in Sweden and hired a lawyer “to defend the interests of the crew and the company.”

The ship, constructed in 2022, has a crew of eight Bulgarians and nine Myanmar nationals.

“Staff from the Swedish authorities have been on board the ship since yesterday evening to carry out investigative measures,” an intelligence official told AFP.

The damage to the cable occurred in Swedish territorial waters at a depth of at least 50 meters, officials said.

The cable belongs to Latvia’s state radio and television center (LVRTC) which said in a statement that there had been “disruptions in data transmission services.”

The company said alternatives had been found and end users would mostly not be affected although “there may be delays in data transmission speeds.”

Latvia’s navy on Sunday said it had identified a “suspect vessel,” the Michalis San, near the location of the incident along with two other ships.

Prime Minister Evika Silina said Riga had notified the Swedish authorities and that the two countries were working together on the incident.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson confirmed he had been in contact with Silina during the day, and Sweden, Latvia and NATO are closely cooperating on the matter.

Experts and politicians have accused Russia of orchestrating a hybrid war against the West as the two sides square off over Ukraine.

NATO this month announced it was launching a new monitoring mission in the Baltic Sea involving ships and aircraft to deter attempts to target undersea infrastructure.

European Union President Ursula von der Leyen expressed “full solidarity” with countries affected by the incident. “The resilience and security of our critical infrastructure is a top priority,” von der Leyen wrote on X.
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