Bulgarian ship owner denies that Vezhan intentionally damaged cable between Latvia and Sweden

  • 2025-01-27
  • LETA/DPA/EXPRESSEN/AFP/TBT Staff

STOCKHOLM/SOFIA - Bulgarian shipping company Navigation Maritime Bulgares, which owns the Maltese-flagged cargo ship Vezhan, denies that the ship intentionally damaged the cable between Gotland and Latvia, REUTERS reports.

Footage from Swedish broadcaster SVT published on Monday showed Swedish personnel boarding the Vezhan, which is suspected of damaging the Latvian State Radio and Television Center's (LVRTC) submarine fiber-optic cable in the Baltic Sea. The vessel was anchored south of Karlskrona in southern Sweden in the morning, accompanied by a patrol vessel and a Swedish coastguard boat.

As reported, the cable was damaged in the Ventspils-Gotland section in the early hours of Sunday.

The Swedish public prosecutor's office announced late on Sunday evening that it was investigating "serious sabotage" and had seized a vessel in connection with the incident.

The ship left Russia on Friday en route to Skagen in Denmark. At 1 a.m. on Sunday, the Maltese-flagged cargo ship passed over the now damaged cable between Gotland and Latvia.

Pictures of the ship show one of the anchors damaged, with one of the anchor arms missing. It is unclear when the damage occurred. In earlier pictures, both anchors appear intact.

The investigation is under the Swedish Security Service (SAPO) as a possible crime could be directed against Swedish interests.

The European Union has imposed sanctions on dozens of the so-called Russian "shadow fleet" ships. However, the actual size of the fleet is likely to be much larger - Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda has said an estimated 600-1,000 ships belonging to the shadow fleet are on the seas.