The Stockholm Prosecutor's Office announced the investigation, citing possible sabotage and the seizure of a vessel suspected of damaging an undersea cable.
Swedish authorities detained a ship, which was traveling from a Russian port and is now anchored near Karlskrona, on suspicion of severing an undersea cable between Latvia and Sweden's Gotland Island. Media reports suggest that the ship in question could be the Bulgarian cargo vessel Vezhen, sailing under the Maltese flag.
On Monday, reports from the Swedish daily newspaper emerged indicating that the ship may have a damaged anchor.
Latvian authorities confirmed yesterday that the cable belonging to Latvia's state broadcaster, LVRTC, running between Ventspils and Gotland, was damaged, but it did not cause significant internet issues in the region.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys has called for a review of Baltic Sea navigation rules. He believes regulations regarding ships with anchors need to be changed, as there have been too many recent incidents of critical infrastructure damage in the Baltic to dismiss them as accidents.
"The shadow fleet is not just a problem for sanctions circumvention. It’s a larger issue that puts our environment& critical infrastructure at risk," Budrys said.
Source: IAR/PAP/X/@Watchma51035016/@BudrysKestutis/@BBCWorld
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