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 an initial investigation pointed to sabotage, and an inquiry has been launched involving Sweden’s police, military, and coast guard.

Earlier on Sunday, Latvia’s military reported 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 telecom cables – some of which have been blamed on Russia.

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina 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 be mostly unaffected.

Earlier this month, Nato launched its new “Baltic Sentry” mission, after several cables under the Baltic Sea were damaged or severed in 2024.

Nato chief Mark Rutte said the mission would involve more patrol aircraft, warships and drones.

While Russia was not directly singled out as a culprit in the cable damage, Rutte said Nato would step up its monitoring of Moscow’s “shadow fleet” – ships without clear ownership that are used to carry embargoed oil products.

Rutte said there was “reason for grave concern” over infrastructure damage, adding that Nato would respond to future incidents robustly, with more boarding of suspect vessels and, if necessary, their seizure.

Finnish police late last year said they were investigating whether a Russian ship was involved in the sabotage of an electricity cable running between Finland and Estonia.