Sweden seizes ship after suspected Baltic Sea cable sabotage

Swedish authorities have seized a ship suspected of damaging a data cable running under the Baltic Sea to Latvia.

Prosecutors said a preliminary investigation pointed to sabotage, and an investigation was launched that included Sweden’s police, military and coast guard.

Earlier on Sunday, the Latvian military stated that two ships were seen in the area where the damage occurred.

The apparent attack comes less than a month after NATO launched a new mission in the Baltic Sea in response to repeated attacks on underwater power and communications cables – some of which were blamed on Russia.

Latvian Prime Minister Ivica Selina said her country was working closely with Sweden and NATO in response to the incident.

The cable belongs to Latvia’s state broadcaster, LVRTC, which said in a statement there had been “disruptions in data transmission services,” but that end users would mostly not be affected.

Earlier this month, NATO launched a new “Baltic Sentry” mission, after several cables under the Baltic Sea were damaged or cut in 2024.

NATO Chief Mark Rutte said the mission would include more patrol aircraft, warships and drones.

While Russia has not been directly singled out as a magnet in the cable damage, Rutte said NATO will step up its monitoring of Moscow’s “shadow fleet” – with no clear ownership used to carry banned oil products.

Rutte said there was “reason for serious concern” about infrastructure damage, adding that NATO would respond to future incidents forcefully, with increased boarding of suspected ships and, if necessary, their shift.

Finnish police said late last year that they were investigating whether a Russian ship was involved in sabotaging the power cable between Finland and Estonia.