AP reported that on January 27, Bulgarian shipping company Navibulgar denied allegations that one of its ships intentionally severed the undersea optical cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland.
On the evening of January 26, Swedish prosecutors announced the launch of a preliminary investigation into suspected sabotage, after the ship was held in the Baltic Sea.
Alexander Kalchev, CEO of Navibulgar, said there was a possibility that the Vezhen ship had broken the cable, but dismissed any theories of sabotage or any intentional actions by the crew.
Kalchev told the crew that the ship was moving in severe bad weather conditions late on January 26. At that time, the crew discovered the left anchor being towed crystal on the seabed.
The automatic identification system shows that the Vezhen ship passed through the cable location, but the time of the cable break has not yet been determined.
"I hope investigators will soon clarify that this was not an intentional act but just a technical incident due to bad weather, so that the ship can be released," said Mr. Kalchev.
The Vezhen is flying a Malta flag, carrying fertilizer and is on its way to South America. The 32,000-ton ship will be launched in 2022, Kalchev said.
The Swedish Public Prosecutors Office said it is taking specific investigation measures, with the participation of the National Police, Coast Guard and the Army. Mr. Mats Ljungqvist, senior prosecutor, affirmed that this is part of a serious investigation into regional security issues.
Swedish authorities boarded the Vezhen ship to conduct the investigation. The Swedish Security Service spokeswoman said the investigation is ongoing but did not disclose further details.
According to data from MarineTraffic, the Vezhen ship was escorted into Swedish waters and anchored near the socialist naval base ofskrona. Images from Swedish TV4 show the ship looking to have a broken anchor.
Meanwhile, the Latvia government insists the damaged fiber optic cables in Sweden's exclusive economic zone are likely to be caused by "external impact". The incident prompted NATO to deploy patrol vessels to the area and trigger a sabotage investigation.
The incident came after Finnish police arrested a Russian tanker last month on suspicion of dragging its anchor, damaging multiple telecommunication cables and the Estlink 2 power line connecting Finland and Estonia.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna wrote on social network X: "I don't believe in a coincidence that underwater infrastructure failures in the Baltic are so common."
While public opinion has raised many questions, Bulgaria's Navibulgar company and the crew of the Vezhen ship still maintain their innocence, awaiting the results of the investigation. Is this just a technical accident or a link in a series of mysterious incidents?
