Cover photo: The cargo ship Vezhen remains anchored near Karlskrona, Sweden, for inspection by Swedish authorities as of Jan. 27, 2025. Source: TT News Agency / Johan Nilsson via Reuters
A ship detained by Swedish prosecutors in connection with damage to an undersea communication cable connecting Sweden and Latvia is owned by the Bulgarian company Navigation Maritime Bulgare, Reuters reported earlier today. MarineTraffic data indicates that the bulk carrier Vezhen, sailing under the Maltese flag, passed near the cable at 00:45 GMT on Jan. 26. A coast guard vessel escorted the ship into Swedish waters, where it later anchored.
Aleksandar Kalchev, head of the Bulgarian company, admitted that the Vezhen might have struck the underwater cable but stressed that there was no malicious intent. He explained that one of the ship's anchors dropped to the seabed due to high winds. “They (the crew) have been instructed to assist authorities and the situation never escalated and it is calm at the moment,” Kalchev told Reuters, claiming that the crew had initially been held at gunpoint.
A statement on the company’s website read: “Navigation Maritime Bulgare JSC does not have information about any intentional actions by the crew of the m/v Vezhen that could lead to such an incident. According to the information we have received, this is a force majeure situation that occurred due to the unfavorable hydrometeorological conditions in the area.”
A maritime expert, speaking anonymously to The Insider, was skeptical about the company’s explanation, calling the claim that the anchor was blown off by the wind highly implausible:
“Anchors don’t simply fall on their own. Theoretically, you could imagine an anchor improperly secured, a wave hitting [the ship], and the anchor system releasing [it]. However, if the ship was moving with an unsecured anchor, that points to extreme unprofessionalism by the crew. Among industry insiders, the owner’s explanation is more likely to provoke amusement than belief.”
A representative from Sweden’s Meteorological and Hydrological Institute told Reuters that wind speeds near Gotland, where the incident occurred, did not exceed 8–10 meters per second (m/s) that night — “well below” the 14 m/s threshold for issuing a storm warning. According to the meteorologist, wave heights were also relatively low. Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat quoted the Swedish Meteorological Institute as saying the significant wave height in the area was about one meter, which “cannot be considered extremely bad weather conditions in any way.”
Swedish television channel TV4 reported that the Vezhen is currently anchored about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of the naval base in Karlskrona, southern Sweden, with footage showing that it appeared to have a damaged anchor.
MarineTraffic data analyzed by The Insider shows that the Vezhen, en route from the port of Ust-Luga in Russia’s Leningrad Region to Skagen, Denmark, entered the Baltic Sea on Jan. 25. The vessel maintained a consistent speed until Jan. 26, when it reached Gotland. The ship passed near the area where the cable damage was later discovered without changing speed — but reduced its speed to almost zero three hours later. Around 10 hours after that, the ship turned near Karlskrona and began heading toward port but did not reach it.
The damaged undersea cable, owned by the Latvian State Radio and Television Center (LVRTC), connects Latvia with Sweden. The incident occurred on the Ventspils-Gotland segment within Sweden’s exclusive economic zone. Latvia’s navy said on Sunday that three ships were subject to investigation following the incident.
This incident follows a series of suspicious incidents in November and December last year, which saw damage inflicted on power and communication cables in the Baltic Sea. Authorities in the affected countries — which include Sweden, Finland, Latvia, and Estonia — suspect sabotage, potentially linked to Russia.
“I don't believe in coincidences when it comes to frequent cases of damage to underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea,” Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in a post on X after the latest cable rupture.
In December, Finnish authorities detained the tanker Eagle S, which is suspected of being part of Russia’s “shadow fleet,” a collection of poorly maintained vessels that help Moscow trade oil at prices above the Western-imposed $60 cap. The tanker is accused of damaging four telecommunications cables — along with the Estlink 2 power cable connecting Finland and Estonia — by dragging its anchor along the seabed. British maritime journal Lloyd’s List, citing an unnamed source directly involved with the vessel, later reported that the Eagle S was equipped with spy equipment capable of monitoring NATO ships and aircraft.
In January, NATO announced the launch of the Baltic Sentry mission to safeguard critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. The operation will involve patrols by frigates, maritime patrol aircraft, and unmanned naval drones.