Sweden investigating new Baltic Sea cable damage

by Johannes LEDEL

Swedish authorities said Friday they were investigating suspected damage to an underwater cable in the Baltic Sea, following a string of incidents experts believe are acts of sabotage orchestrated by Russia.

Finnish operator Cinia said it had recorded "some disturbance" on its C-Lion 1 communications cable linking Finland and Germany.

"However, the disturbance does not affect the functionality of telecommunications connections running in the cable and the data traffic continues flowing normally," it said in a statement, adding that the cause was "still under investigation".

The same cable had previously been cut in November last year with suspicions falling on a Chinese ship.

A string of incidents involving damage to cables and other infrastructure in the Baltic Sea have occurred in recent months, amid soaring tensions between the West and Russia over Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Swedish police spokesman Mathias Rutegard told AFP an investigation into suspected "sabotage" had been opened following the latest incident, which occurred east of the Swedish island of Gotland.

"We have opened a preliminary investigation into a suspected broken cable in the Baltic Sea and within the Swedish economic zone," Rutegard said.

Police later said in a statement that they had "no suspect" at this stage.

- 'Serious security situation' -

A spokeswoman for the Swedish coast guard, Karin Cars, told AFP they had sent a ship to the site east of Sweden's island of Gotland and were "assisting with the crime scene investigation".

Cars said she did not have information about when the damage occurred, but said the coast guard had started heading towards the site the night before.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a post to X that the government was monitoring the situation.

"We take all reports of possible damage to infrastructure in the Baltic Sea very seriously. As I have said before, they must be seen in the context of the serious security situation," Kristersson said.

The European Commission said Friday it would step up security requirements for underwater cables and prioritise financing for the deployment of new and smart cables.

It also said the EU would increase the capacity for the swift repair of damaged cables and would enforce sanctions against "hostile actors" and the "shadow fleet".

Security analysts say Russia is operating a "shadow fleet" of hundreds of vessels, aiming to dodge Western sanctions -- some of which are accused of damaging cables.

- Mounting tensions -

Western officials have accused Russian vessels of sabotaging undersea communications and power cables in several high-profile incidents in the Baltic Sea in recent months.

European leaders and experts suspect acts of "hybrid warfare" against Western countries supporting Ukraine, and are calling for increased maritime security.

Tensions have mounted around the Baltic Sea since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

A series of underwater blasts ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines that carried Russian gas to Europe in September 2022, the cause of which has yet to be determined.

In October 2023, an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was shut down after it was damaged by the anchor of a Chinese cargo ship.

Two telecom cables, including the C-Lion 1, were severed in Swedish waters on November 17-18 last year.

And weeks later, on December 25, the Estlink 2 electricity cable and four telecom cables linking Finland and Estonia were damaged.

In January, NATO announced the launch of a Baltic Sea patrol mission, Baltic Sentry, to secure critical underwater infrastructure.

Earlier this week, UN experts told AFP that fishing trawlers were responsible for far more damage to underwater cables than nefarious activities.

According to the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC), there are an average of 150 to 200 outages per year worldwide, or around three incidents a week.

Tomas Lamanauskas, the deputy head of the United Nations' International Telecommunications Union (ITU), told AFP that fishing and anchoring is responsible for 80 percent of all recorded damage.

© Agence France-Presse