Norwegian police have arrested a vessel with a Russian crew on suspicion of involvement in damaging a fiber optic cable in the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Sweden.
Points of attention
- A damaged cable in the Baltic Sea caused data transmission disruptions, although users in Latvia did not experience significant consequences.
- Norwegian authorities are working closely with partners to investigate and determine the cause of the cable damage.
- The arrest of Russian citizens and searches on the ship confirm the seriousness of this situation.
Russians suspected of new provocation in the Baltics
According to an official statement from Norwegian law enforcement, they decided to detain the ship based on a legal request from the Latvian authorities, as well as a court decision.
The detained vessel Silver Dania is registered in Norway and owned by a Norwegian company. The vessel operates between St. Petersburg and Murmansk. The vessel's crew is Russian.
They were detained by the coast guard ship KV Bison during a police-led operation. The arrest of the Russian citizens took place at around 9:00 p.m. on January 30.
What is important to understand is that at this time the ship was in the Norwegian economic zone off the coast of the Troms region. It has already been delivered to the port of Tromsø.
Police are conducting a search, interrogation and evidence collection operation on the ship. The Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) has been informed about the case.
What is known about the cable damage in the Baltic?
On the morning of January 26, the underwater fiber optic cable of the Latvian State Radio and Television Broadcasting Center (LVRTC) was damaged.
According to journalists, the monitoring system was able to detect interruptions in data transmission on the Ventspils-Gotland section.
LVRTC continues to provide data services using other routes. However, there may be a slowdown in speed, although this will not affect end users in Latvia.
Together with partners, LVRTC conducted inspections and measurements in the network using equipment installed in Ventspils.
As of today, there is reason to believe that the cable is significantly damaged, and that the damage was caused by an external impact.
