Norway Seizes Russian-Crewed Vessel Over Suspected Cable Damage In Baltic Sea

Norwegian Police seized a ship, the Silver Dania, suspected of damaging a fibre cable between Latvia and Sweden in the Baltic Sea.

After a request from Latvia, the Troms Police in northern Norway located the vessel and escorted it to the Tromso Port on Friday.

The ship is registered in Norway but has a crew of Russian seafarers. It was sailing from St.Petersburg to Murmansk, Russia when it was intercepted by authorities.

Per CNN, Silver Sea Shipping Group who owns the vessel have denied any involvement in the damage to the fibre cable.

The CEO of Silver Group, Tormod Fossmark stated that the investigation was ongoing and they were cooperating with the authorities.

However, no evidence was found connecting the ship to the damaged cable so the authorities allowed the ship to sail on Friday night.

This is the second ship seizure in the past week related to suspected cable sabotage. Such incidents have been occurring since late 2022 when crucial communications infrastructure along the Baltic seabed, including natural gas pipelines and cables transmitting data and electricity have suffered damage.

Since these incidents of damage became common, there were increasing concerns that they could be deliberate. European authorities have also launched several investigations with some officials saying that Moscow could be responsible for these incidents.

On the other hand, Russia has denied its involvement in sabotaging underwater cables. Last week, the Russian Embassy in London said that NATO was increasing its air and naval presence under what it termed the ‘fictitious pretext of the ‘Russian threat.’

References: The Moscow Times, The Barrons