Owner of bulk carrier MV Vezhen, detained by Sweden for another cable damage incident in Baltic sea, claims rough weather caused anchor drag
Sweden’s ‘aggravated sabotage’ investigation of a seized vessel suspected of carrying out the latest Baltic undersea cable damage incident, has taken a fresh turn.
Earlier this week Swedish authorities had seized the Malta-flagged bulk carrier MV Vezhen after it left Russia on Sunday 26 January and damaged an underwater fibre-optic cable running from Latvia to the Swedish island of Gotland.
Now the CEO of Navigation Maritime Bulgaria (Navibulgar), Captain Alexander Kalchev, has claimed the ship had accidentally dropped its anchor in poor weather and damaged the cable, but a shipping expert has noted key details missing in his statement.
Claims questioned
Captain Alexander Kalchev had denied his brand new ship was part of Russia’s so called “gray” or “shadow fleet” – vessels that are used to get around energy export sanctions on Russia.
But Kalchev’s statement was questioned by shipping expert Sal Mercogliano – a maritime historian at Campbell University and former merchant mariner in his latest YouTube video on the channel’ “What’s Going on With Shipping”.
Mercogliano noted that Alexander Kalchev had blamed bad weather for the wear and tear that led to the breaking of anchor mechanism on the brand new ship, and also noted that Kalchev did not explain why four separate safety mechanisms on the anchor had all failed to stop the accidental cable damage.
Mercogliano has previously noted in other videos that one cable damage by anchor dragging may be a result of an accident, but this is now the fourth such incident in the Baltic sea, suggesting deliberate action.
The repeated attacks on underwater power and telecoms cables in the Baltic sea, have been blamed on Russia’s hybrid operations.
Mercogliano has previously suggested that Russia may be bribing ship crew members to release their ship’s anchors to damage subsea cables in the Baltic Sea.
National security
The matter is being treated extremely seriously by the Baltic nations, including Germany, Poland, Lativa, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
Earlier in January NATO launched the “Baltic Sentry” mission using frigates, maritime patrol aircraft and naval drones to provide enhanced surveillance and deterrence to protect undersea cables and pipelines in the region.
And in December 2024 a new body belonging to the United Nations with the remit to protect critical submarine or subsea cables, held its first virtual meeting.
That UN advisory body seeks to improve cable resilience by promoting best practices and principles for all governments and industry players. It is tasked with ensuring the timely deployment and speedy repair of submarine cables, to reduce the risk of damage and enhance the continuity of affected communications.
However the body won’t have the power to assign blame for cable damage.
Subsea cables of course carry the vast bulk (99 percent) of all online data or ‘traffic’, which has prompted growing concern about their vulnerability in the face of the tense geopolitical situation, amid Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.