Nations surrounding the Baltic Sea are once again confronting a damaged undersea cable, which Swedish authorities said they are now investigating.
The Associated Press cited the news agency TT as reporting on Friday that the breakage was found on a cable that runs between Germany and Finland off the island of Gotland, south of Stockholm, in the Swedish economic zone. The Swedish Coast Guard is reportedly responding to the site.
This is the latest in a long line of cable damage incidents in the Baltic Sea, with many nations concerned at possible acts of sabotage as part of Russian-backed hybrid warfare incidents.
Latest incident
A “preliminary investigation into sabotage was opened,” Swedish police were quoted by the AP as saying in a statement
But the police reportedly added they had “no further information to share at this time.”
Meanwhile Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson tweeted on X (formerly Twitter) that the government “takes all reports of damage to infrastructure in the Baltic Sea very seriously.”
“As I have said before, these incidents must be viewed in the context of the serious security situation that exists,” he tweeted.
Jag har sedan en tid kännedom om uppgifterna i media om ett eventuellt nytt kabelbrott i Östersjön. Regeringen informeras löpande av berörda myndigheter som undersöker vad som skett.
Vi tar alla uppgifter om eventuella skador på infrastruktur i Östersjön på största allvar. Som…
— SwedishPM (@SwedishPM) February 21, 2025
Ongoing incidents
In late January Swedish authorities had opened an investigation into suspected aggravated sabotage and seized a ship (the Malta-flagged vessel, the MV Vezhen), after damage was discovered to the undersea fiber-optic cable running between the Latvian city of Ventspils and Sweden’s Gotland.
The MV Vezhen was later released after Swedish prosecutors ruled out initial suspicions that sabotage had caused the damage.
Prior to that in December 2024 Finland seized a UAE-owned oil tanker Eagle S, accused of being part of Russia’s “shadow fleet”, after it damaged an undersea internet and power cable in Baltic sea between Finland and Estonia, causing outages.
And on 17 and 18th November, two undersea cables located in the Baltic sea, were severed in less than 24 hours – again prompting sabotage concerns.
A Chinese ship (Yi Peng Three) was briefly detained by the Danish navy, but sailed off after China reportedly denied a Swedish request to board the vessel.
NATO, EU concern
The repeated attacks on underwater power and telecoms cables in the Baltic Sea saw NATO recently launch a mission in the Baltic
Meanwhile a United Nations advisory body with the remit to protect critical submarine or subsea cables, held its first virtual meeting last December.
Subsea cables of course carry the vast bulk (99 percent) of all online data or ‘traffic’ (but cables also carry electricity), which has prompted growing concern about their vulnerability in the face of the tense geopolitical situation, amid Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Hybrid warfare
Shipping expert Sal Mercogliano – a maritime historian at Campbell University and former merchant mariner on his YouTube channel’ “What’s Going on With Shipping” – has suggested that the number of anchor dragging incidents in the Baltic sea that have damaged cables suggests 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.
Meanwhile the AP has reported that the European Commission on Friday presented key measures for better protection of underwater cables in its region, including stepping up security requirements and risk assessments while prioritising funding for new and smart cables.
It said threat-monitoring capabilities will be enhanced in the Mediterranean and the Baltic seas for a quicker and more effective response and repair capabilities.