Police in Sweden and Finland are investigating potential sabotage of an undersea telecommunications cable in the Baltic Sea. The Swedish coast guard has sent a vessel to the area, which has seen multiple instances of damage to seabed cables recently, reports Reuters.
Heightened Vigilance
The Baltic Sea region is experiencing heightened vigilance, with NATO increasing its presence, due to a series of disruptions affecting power cables, telecommunications, and gas pipelines since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. While most incidents are attributed to civilian ships dragging anchors, Finnish operator Cinia recently confirmed damage to its C-Lion1 fiber-optic cable connecting Finland and Germany. Despite the damage, data traffic continues to flow.
Emergency Repair Vessels
The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation confirmed cable damage on Wednesday and initiated a preliminary investigation the following day. Swedish police are also investigating the incident, as it occurred within Sweden’s economic zone, though no suspects have been identified. While some Baltic Sea incidents have been deemed accidental, others remain under investigation, with no prosecutions to date.
In response to these recurring outages, the European Commission announced plans to enhance surveillance of undersea cables and create a fleet of emergency repair vessels. This initiative, while covering all of Europe, will include a Baltic Sea hub designed to proactively detect potential incidents, as stated by European Commission Vice President Henna Virkkunen.
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Source: Reuters
