The Baltic Sea region is on alert and the NATO alliance has boosted its presence after a series of power cable, telecom and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Most have been caused by civilian ships dragging their anchors.
Finnish telecom operator Cinia said on Friday that it had detected minor damage on its C-Lion1 undersea fibre-optic link connecting Finland and Germany but that there was no impact on the cable’s functionality.
Swedish police were investigating the matter because the breach had occurred in Sweden’s economic zone, police spokesperson Mathias Rutegard said. “The preliminary investigation relates to suspected sabotage.”
It is the third time in recent months that Cinia’s C-Lion1 cable was damaged, after it was completely severed in November and December last year.
The Swedish coastguard said it had sent a vessel to help investigate the incident off the island of Gotland.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a post to X that the government was monitoring the situation.
“We take all reports of possible damage to infrastructure in the Baltic Sea very seriously. As I have said before, they must be seen in the context of the serious security situation,” he said.
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Tensions have mounted around the Baltic Sea since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A series of underwater blasts ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines that carried Russian gas to Europe in September 2022, the cause of which has yet to be determined.
In October 2023, an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was shut down after it was damaged by the anchor of a Chinese cargo ship.
Two telecom cables in Swedish waters were severed on November 17-18 last year.
And weeks later, on December 25, the Estlink 2 electricity cable and four telecom cables linking Finland and Estonia were damaged.
In January, NATO announced the launch of a Baltic Sea patrol mission, Baltic Sentry, to secure critical underwater infrastructure.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters)
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