By Johan Ahlander and Anna Ringstrom
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Swedish authorities boarded a Maltese-flagged ship seized in connection with the latest breach of cables running along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to begin an investigation into the matter, the country’s security police said on Monday.
“We can confirm that persons from Swedish authorities have been on board the vessel to carry out investigative measures,” Swedish Security Services spokesperson Johan Wikstrom said.
He declined to comment further on the investigation.
The undersea cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged early on Sunday in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone, likely as a result of external influence, Latvia said. That prompted NATO to deploy patrol ships to the area and triggered a sabotage investigation by Swedish authorities.
A Swedish prosecutor ordered the seizing of a ship as part of the investigation.
Marine Traffic data showed that a coastguard vessel escorted the bulk carrier Vezhen to Swedish waters on Sunday where it later anchored. The Vezhen passed the fibre optic cable at 0045 GMT on Sunday.
Television footage from Sweden’s TV4 showed the Vezhen anchored some 10 km south of the naval base in Karlskrona, in southern Sweden. Images showed that it appeared to have a damaged anchor.
It was not clear that the Vezhen caused any damage and the Latvian navy said on Sunday that three ships were subject to investigation.
Bulgarian shipping company Navigation Maritime Bulgare, which listed the Vezhen among its fleet, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
NATO said last week it would deploy frigates, patrol aircraft and naval drones in the Baltic Sea to help protect critical infrastructure and reserved the right to take action against ships suspected of posing a security threat.
Finnish police last month seized a tanker carrying Russian oil and said they suspected the vessel had damaged the Finnish-Estonian Estlink 2 power line and four telecoms cables by dragging its anchor across the seabed.
(Reporting by Johan Ahlander and Anna Ringstrom; editing by Niklas Pollard and Bernadette Baum)
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