Sweden is focusing on one or more vessels in connection with the damaged cables in the Baltic Sea. This is what the Swedish Minister of Civil Defence, Carl-Oskar Bohlin, told the Swedish media TV4 on Tuesday.
- We can see that the defence and the coast guard, through their information about the situation at sea, have detected vessel movements that correspond in time and space to the interruptions that have occurred, he says.
Both a Swedish-Lithuanian and a Finnish-German data cable have been damaged in recent days. Swedish police have begun a preliminary investigation into the case. There is suspicion of sabotage. The first cable failure occurred on Sunday morning and the next less than 24 hours later, writes the news agency Reuters.
The Swedish media SVT has analysed openly available satellite data from the area. SVT writes that the Danish navy has followed a Chinese vessel out of the Baltic Sea. According to SVT's information, the authorities consider this interesting.
However, the authorities have not officially confirmed any information about the Chinese vessel, which was allegedly on its way from a Russian oil port when it passed the fiber cables.
- The Danish Armed Forces have no comments regarding the Chinese vessel, says press advisor Henrik Hall Mortensen from the Danish Armed Forces to SVT.
- In general, it can be said that the Danish Armed Forces routinely follow vessels sailing through Danish waters.
Finnish authorities said on Tuesday that they are investigating the coincidence in time and place between the ship traffic and the crashes. This is reported by the Reuters news agency. The EU's foreign policy chief has said that it is too early to point out who could be behind the cable break.
Last year, several cables were destroyed in the Baltic Sea - both telecommunications cables and a gas pipeline. Finnish police have a Chinese ship as the main suspect in the case from last year. The ship is believed to have dragged its anchor behind it. However, according to the news agency Reuters, the police have not said whether they believe it was an accident or a deliberate act.
The Nord Stream gas pipelines were blown up in 2022 in the Baltic Sea near Bornholm. That case is still under investigation by German authorities.
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