Sweden seizes Bulgarian ship 'Vezhen' over suspected sabotage?

The Bulgarian ship 'Vezhen' has been detained by Swedish authorities on suspicion of sabotage. A fibre optic cable was damaged in the area through which the vessel passed on the night before Sunday. A few days earlier, 'Vezhen' set sail from the Russian port of Ust-Luga, where it had loaded fertilisers to be transported to South America. The ship is sailing under the Maltese flag and has a crew of 8 Bulgarians and 9 Maltese nationals. Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže stated that there was a ship in the area of the incident that is part of Russia's "shadow fleet."

Baltic Sea on the night of 27 January. The Swedish coastguard establishes control over the 'Vezhen' ship. It is now anchored off the Karlskrona military base in southern Sweden.

Erik Lundmark, reporter for SVT: "It seems calm at the moment. We cannot get too close to the ship, but nothing unusual seems to be happening on board. There's a coast guard."

The optical cable was severed between the Latvian city of Ventspils and the Swedish island of Gotland, within Sweden’s exclusive economic zone.

Evika Siliņa, Prime Minister of Latvia: "It has been determined that the damage was most likely caused by an external force, and it is significant. The naval forces are inspecting the area where the incident occurred."

'Vezhen' passed through this zone around 1:30 AM - the early hours of Saturday, January 25. However, it was not the only vessel in the area. There were two other ships.

Evika Siliņa, Prime Minister of Latvia: "Our patrol ship was immediately sent to check the vessel 'Michalis San', which was in the area of the damaged cable. Upon inspection, we found that the ship was traveling to Russia. No suspicious activities or damage to the anchor were found on board. We continue to analyze the movement of other vessels in the area."

Latvia dispatched a military ship to the zone of the incident.

Baiba Braže, Latvian Foreign Minister: "We have made some progress in the investigation, but I cannot provide details because the information is classified. Several ships are cooperating with the investigation, while one is refusing to cooperate. One of the involved ships is subject to sanctions as part of the shadow fleet."

The damaged cable belongs to the Latvian Public Broadcasting Center.

Evika Siliņa, Prime Minister of Latvia: "Last night, disruptions were found in the signal transmission from an underwater cable belonging to the Latvian Public Broadcasting Center. End users were not affected."

Due to the increased frequency of incidents since mid-January, the Baltic Sea is under the protection of a special NATO mission.

Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s Foreign Minister: "We are experiencing it again. More damaged cables—this cannot be a coincidence. GPS signals have been repeatedly interrupted, critical infrastructure is being spied on by drones. The European Union and NATO are working closer together. We are intensifying our cooperation to identify and prevent dangers."

photos by BGNES

The President of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen, expressed "full support" for the countries affected by the incident and assured that the security of critical infrastructure remains a top priority for the European Union. Repairing the damaged cable is likely to take weeks.

The war in Ukraine has turned the Baltic Sea into a hotspot for alleged sabotage—cable damage and pipeline explosions. Every day, more than 2,000 ships pass through the sea. According to the Baltic States, some of these vessels belong to Russia’s "shadow fleet."

• The first suspected sabotage in the Baltic Sea occurred in September 2022, when explosions damaged the Nord Stream pipelines. The causes of the explosions have not yet been determined.
• A year later, an underwater gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was halted after being damaged by the anchor of a Chinese ship
• In November last year, two telecommunications cables were severed in Swedish waters. There have been incidents with internet cables between Finland and Germany and between Finland and Sweden.
• At Christmas, a tanker, which Finland claims is part of Russia’s "shadow fleet," severed a cable between Finland and Estonia. The tanker "Eagle S" is still detained in Finnish waters.