Bulgarian Shipping Company Denies Baltic Cable Damaged Its Ships
Cargo ship Vezhen anchored outside Karlskrona, Sweden, for inspection by Swedish authorities, on Monday, January 27, 2025.
A Bulgarian shipping company denied on Monday that one of its vessels had intentionally damaged the undersea fiber optic cable connecting Latvia to the Swedish island of Gotland.
The Swedish Prosecutor’s Office announced late Sunday that it had opened a preliminary investigation into suspected sabotage after the ship was detained in the Baltic Sea.
Navibulgar CEO Alexander Kalchev said in a statement that it was possible that the Vision had caused the cable break, but ruled out intentional sabotage or other actions by the crew.
Citing information provided by the crew, Kalchev said the ship set sail on Sunday evening in bad weather conditions. Eventually, the crew discovered that the left anchor had been dragged to the bottom of the sea.
The automatic vessel identification system clearly showed that the Vision had crossed the cable, and it is not clear when the cable was cut.
“I hope that investigators will soon conclude that this was not an intentional act but a technical accident caused by adverse weather conditions and that the ship will be released,” Kalczew said.
The Maltese-flagged cargo ship, the Vizhen, was heading to South America to deliver fertilizer. Kalczew said the 32,000-ton ship is scheduled to be launched in 2022.
The Swedish Prosecution Authority said it was implementing a series of targeted investigative measures. Justice Minister Mats Ljungqvist said in a statement that the investigation involved the national police operations department, the coast guard and the armed forces, among other departments.
