Sweden releases Bulgarian ship after ruling out sabotage in Baltic Sea cable rupture

Swedish prosecutors said on Monday that they have released a vessel owned by a Bulgarian shipping company after ruling out sabotage as the cause of damage to an undersea fibre-optic cable linking Sweden and Latvia.

The vessel, Vezhen, was detained on 26 January following the discovery of damage to the cable running between Ventspils in Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland.

The incident was one of several recent cases of undersea cable ruptures, sparking concerns over potential Russian sabotage and espionage in the Baltic region.

However, prosecutors stated that their investigation determined the Vezhen ship was not involved in any deliberate act of sabotage.

Senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said the vessel was responsible for the damage but made clear that after forensic examinations, analysis of seized equipment, and witness testimonies, “we can say with certainty that this is not a case of sabotage”.

“An investigation is continuing to find out whether other crimes may have been responsible for the cable break,” the prosecutors said in a statement.

The Bulgarian shipping company, Navibulgar, haddenied that one of its ships had intentionally damaged the cable.

The company cited accounts from the crew, who reported navigating through extreme weather conditions, which likely caused the ship’s left anchor to drag along the seabed.

Previous incidents of veri cable ruptures on the Baltic Sea bed have been reported, with some linked to Russia’s shadow fleet — a network of ageing tankers with unclear ownership that evade sanctions to sustain the country’s oil revenue. 

On Friday, Norwegian authorities inspected Silver Dana, a Norwegian-owned and Russian-crewed vessel initially suspected of being involved in the incident.

However, after an investigation, Norwegian police found no evidence linking the ship to the cable damage and subsequently released it.