Maltese-flagged vessel cleared of sabotage in Baltic incident
The crew of the vessel Vezhen did not commit an act of sabotage in the Baltic Sea. The Swedish prosecutor's office reported on Monday that bad weather conditions, equipment shortages, and navigation errors caused the cable break between Sweden and Latvia.
In light of these findings, the decision to seize the vessel, owned by a Bulgarian company and sailing under the Maltese flag, was revoked on Monday. Since January 26, Vezhen had been forcibly anchored off Karlskrona, located on the southeastern coast of Sweden.
"We can confidently state that there was no sabotage. At the same time, we were able to establish that the seized vessel caused the cable break," prosecutor Mats Ljugqvist emphasized, as quoted in the statement.
Concurrently, the prosecutor’s office assured that the investigation is ongoing and could lead to other charges related to negligence being brought against the crew.
The Bulgarian owner had previously sought to recover the vessel in court in Visby on Gotland.
The damage to the fibre optic cable, situated on the Baltic Sea bed between the western coast of Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland, occurred on January 26. An investigation into this matter was initiated by Latvian and Swedish authorities. A special police unit from Sweden seized the vessel based on a prosecutor’s decision, and investigators interviewed the crew, conducted inspections, and secured evidence.
