The mainstream media narrative of Russian 'shadow fleet' vessels traversing the Baltic Sea in a clandestine anti-NATO operation to sabotage vital underwater communications cables linking European nations continues to unravel at rapid pace. Swedish authorities have issued the results of their official investigation into Malta-flagged Vezhen ship, following the discovery of damage to a fiber-optic cable between Sweden and Latvia on Jan. 26. Authorities had immediately seized the cargo ship on suspicion it intentionally damaged the cable.

The Maltese-flagged Vezhen cargo ship was found to have accidentally sliced the cable, a Swedish prosecutor said on Monday. The cargo ship Vezhen is anchored for examination by Swedish authorities outside Karlskrona, Sweden, on Jan. 27, 2025. The cargo ship Vezhen is anchored for examination by Swedish authorities outside Karlskrona, Sweden, on Jan. 27, 2025. Johan Nilsson/Reuters A Swedish prosecutor said on Monday that a cargo ship seized last month did rupture an undersea cable in the Baltic Sea but that it was an accident rather than sabotage. The severing...

A Bulgarian ship has been released after Swedish authorities cleared it of deliberately sabotaging an underwater cable in the Baltic Sea. NATO has moved to protect Baltic Sea cables amid concerns of Russian tampering. Swedish investigators have concluded that damage sustained by an underwater data cable beneath the Baltic Sea at the end of January was not a result of intentional sabotage and have released a suspected ship. The communications cable, which transmitted information between Sweden and Latvia for a Latvian broadcaster, was damaged on January 26 by a Maltese-flagged...

Swedish prosecutors on Monday ruled out sabotage in the case of a damaged undersea cable and said they were releasing a Bulgarian ship seized in connection with the incident, determining the damage was accidental. Sweden detained the Malta-flagged Vezhen after discovering damage to a fiber-optic cable between Sweden and Latvia on Jan. 26. The incident was one of several involving damage to cables and other infrastructure in the Baltic Sea amid heightened tensions between the West and Russia over Moscow’s war in Ukraine. "The investigation concerning a cable break between...

COPENHAGEN, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Sweden has released a vessel suspected of causing damage to an undersea fibre optic cable between Latvia and Sweden on Jan. 26, the Nordic country's prosecution authority said on Monday, adding that it ruled out sabotage.

"The investigation now clearly shows that this was not a case of sabotage," the prosecution authority said in a statement.

"It has been established that a combination of weather conditions and shortcomings in equipment and seamanship contributed to the cable break," it added.