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Baltic Sea data cable damaged in latest case of potential sabotage

Baltic Sea data cable damaged in latest case of potential Baltic Sea data cable damaged in latest case of potential

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An underwater cable between Sweden and Latvia has been damaged early on Sunday, in the fourth episode of potential sabotage in the Baltic Sea in recent months, which has sparked anxiety of NATO regarding vital infrastructure.

The Prime Minister of Latvia Evica Celina said that the damage caused to the cable between the coastal city of Vettepilis in Latvia and Foursond on the Swedish island of Gotland was great and therefore it may have been caused by an external force.

The criminal investigation started. Previous incidents have been linked to Russian and Chinese ships.

The Latvian authorities sent a patrol boat to inspect a ship that was close to the optical fiber cable of the Government and Government Television Center in the country located in the Baltic region when it was damaged, and was also watching two other ships near.

The Latvian navy said that the ship is Michalis San, a cargo carrier that raises the Maltese flag and was on its way to Russia from Algeria, although it did not find any sign of suspicious activity on board, according to Latvia TV.

Sweden Prime Minister Olf Christmson said that at least one data cable had been damaged, and that he was in contact with Selena, and he was closely cooperating with NATO.

European Commission President Ursula von der Line expressed her “full solidarity” with the Baltic states, adding that “the flexibility and security of our vital infrastructure represents a top priority” for the European Union.

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NATO announced last week that it will deploy drones, submarines, ships and aircraft in the Baltic Sea to help discover and prevent vital infrastructure attempts on a mission known as Baltic Sentry after three previous groups of cables have been affected in recent months.

Last month, the Finnish authorities took control of a ship belonging to the Russian Shadow Fleet of oil tankers – ancient and bad maintenance ships and registered in remote judicial areas such as Cook Islands and used to circumvent international sanctions – as it began a criminal investigation into strict sabotage on board. incident.

NATO allies praised Finland’s actions to seize the ship and described it as typical, following two previously sabotage incidents, as the suspicious ships left the Baltic Sea.

The first happened in late 2023 when the Chinese container ship, Neonio Polar Bear, cut a gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia with its sensors, but it was not stopped.

As for the second accident, it relates to the Chinese loose cargo, Yi Peng 3, which in November passed the Kabli data in the Baltic Sea while they were cut.

She stopped for a month in international waters between Denmark and Sweden, and Chinese investigators ascended to it. But the Swedish government criticized Beijing for not allowing the main Swedish investigator to climb to the ship or inspect it.

Yi Ping 3
The Yi Peng 3 belongs to Ningbo Yipeng Shipping, a company that owns only one ship © AP

The last incident comes at a time when the three Baltic countries are preparing to separate their electrical systems from the previous Soviet network in early February and integrate themselves into the European continental network, with some fear of further possible disruption before that.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined the European Union and NATO since its independence after its forced annexation by the Soviet Union, and believes that it turns into the European electricity system is its final integration into the West.

Kestotis Bodrice, Lithuania’s foreign minister, said that the navigation rules in the Baltic Sea need to review “especially when it comes to using the anchors”, adding that there are now a lot of incidents so that there is a little chance to be all accidents.

The repair of data cables takes much less time than repairing gas or electricity connections, and the Radio and Government Television Center in Latvia said it had found alternative ways to its connections.

Drawing maps by Iditi Bahandari

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2025-01-26 18:03:00


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