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A timeline of suspected underwater sabotage events in the Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea area is on high alert after a string of power cable television, telecom link and gas pipeline interruptions considering that Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and the NATO military alliance just recently enhanced its presence with frigates, airplane and naval drones.

A number of cops investigations are under method but no suspects have been brought to trial.

JANUARY 2025: SWEDEN-LATVIA TELECOM CABLE TELEVISION

An undersea fibre optic cable linking the west coast of Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland malfunctioned in the early morning hours of Jan. 26.

Latvia's Prime Minister Evika Silina and the cable's. operator, the Latvian State Radio and Tv Corporation. ( LVRTC), said the damage was likely triggered by an external. effect.

The cable breach occurred in the Swedish economic zone of. the Baltic Sea, some 130 km (80 miles) from the Latvian port of. Ventspils, according to LVRTC.

The interruption activated an investigation by NATO and regional. maritime forces, and Sweden later on seized and boarded the. Maltese-flagged bulk vessel Vezhen on suspicion that it had. triggered the damage in an act of gross sabotage.

Bulgarian shipping company Navigation Maritime Bulgare,. which notes the Vezhen amongst its fleet, said on Monday that a person. of the vessel's anchors had actually dropped to the seabed in high winds. and might have struck the cable television, however denied any sabotage.

DECEMBER 2024: POWER AND INTERNET CABLE TELEVISIONS

The Estlink 2 undersea power cable linking Finland and. Estonia was harmed on Dec. 25 together with four telecoms lines.

Finland launched a sabotage investigation and on Dec. 26. took a tanker carrying Russian oil on suspicion it triggered the. damage by dragging its anchor.

Finnish authorities stated the Cook Islands-registered Eagle S. became part of a shadow fleet used to circumvent sanctions on. Russian oil exports.

The Kremlin stated the ship's seizure was of little issue to. it, and Russia has formerly rejected participation in such. events.

Finnish authorities said on Dec. 29 they had actually discovered tracks on the. seabed where they believe the Eagle S of damaging the cables,. and private investigators later on recuperated a lost anchor they stated was. thought to come from the ship.

The owner of the Eagle S, United Arab Emirates-based. Caravella LLC FZ, on Dec. 30 submitted a request with the Helsinki. District Court seeking the release of the ship. This was. turned down on Jan. 3, 2025.

NOVEMBER 2024: BALTIC TELECOM CABLES

2 undersea fibre-optic interactions cable televisions found more. than 100 nautical miles (about 200 km) apart in the Baltic Sea. were severed on Nov. 17 and 18, raising suspicions of sabotage.

Detectives have zeroed in on Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng. 3, which left the Russian port of Ust-Luga on Nov. 15, and a. Reuters analysis of MarineTraffic information revealed that the ship's. coordinates corresponded to the time and place of the breaches.

China allowed representatives from Germany, Sweden, Finland. and Denmark on Dec. 21 to board the Yi Peng 3 in addition to. Chinese investigators, after a month-long diplomatic standoff. during which the ship sat still in a Danish shipping lane.

Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said on. Dec. 23 China had not hearkened the Swedish government's request. for a prosecutor to be able to perform the preliminary. investigation on board.

OCTOBER 2023: BALTICCONNECTOR GAS PIPELINE AND CABLES

A subsea gas pipeline, the Balticconnector, which links. Finland and Estonia under the Baltic Sea, was severed by what. Finnish investigators determined was Chinese container vessel. NewNew Polar Bear dragging its anchor in the early Oct. 8,. 2023.

Estonian cops think the ship of likewise damaging telecoms. cables connecting Estonia to Finland and Sweden on Oct. 7-8,. in the past hitting the gas pipeline on its method to a port near St. Petersburg in Russia.

China assured Finland and Estonia assistance with the. investigations however Estonian authorities have said the Chinese. did little to satisfy its guarantees.

Finnish and Estonian investigators have been unable to. figure out whether the Hong Kong-flagged vessel caused the damage. by mishap or intentionally, and have not yet supplied their. conclusions in the cases.

SEPTEMBER 2022: NORD STREAM BLASTS

Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, developed throughout the Baltic Sea. by Russia's state-controlled Gazprom to pump natural. gas to Germany, were damaged on Sept. 26, 2022.

Swedish seismologists registered a number of subsea blasts, some. 17 hours apart, off the Danish island of Bornholm, that ruptured. 3 out of four pipelines in the Nord Stream system, releasing. methane into the atmosphere.

In the investigations, Sweden found traces of dynamites on. a number of things recovered from the website, verifying it was a. purposeful act, but Sweden and Denmark closed their. investigations without calling suspects in 2024.

No one has taken responsibility.

Some Western authorities have actually recommended Moscow exploded its own. pipelines, an analysis dismissed by Russian President. Vladimir Putin.

Russia has blamed the United States, Britain and Ukraine for. the blasts, which largely cut Russian gas off from the European. market. Those nations denied participation.

In August 2024, Germany asked Poland to arrest a Ukrainian. diving instructor accused of belonging to a team that blew up. the Nord Stream pipelines. Poland said the man left the country. before he might be detained.

(source: Reuters)