Sweden intercepts Bulgarian ship over damaged Baltic cable
The Swedish coast guard chased and intercepted a Bulgarian ship after a fiber-optic cable under the Baltic Sea linking Sweden to Latvia was damaged, its owner said on Monday.
Latvia sent a warship on Sunday to investigate the damage, while Swedish prosecutors opened an "aggravated sabotage" investigation.
Nations around the Baltic Sea have scrambled to bolster defenses after the suspected sabotage of undersea cables in recent months, with some observers blaming Russia.
The Bulgarian vessel on Sunday "was chased by the Swedish coast guard with instructions for the ship to go into their territorial waters and it is now on anchor where an investigation ... is ongoing," Alexander Kalchev, CEO of Navigation Maritime Bulgare (Navibulgar), owner of the Vezhen, told AFP.
He denied involvement in any sabotage. "I am convinced that we cannot say ... that this was a malicious act," he added.
The Malta-flagged vessel carrying fertilizer from Ust-Luga in Russia and headed for South America was sailing in "extremely bad weather" on Saturday based on the information given to him by the crew, Kalchev said.
An inspection on Sunday found that "one of the ship's anchors was damaged and the anchor had dropped into the sea, which means that it was possible that it had dragged along the sea floor," he said, adding the anchor was then pulled up.
'Full solidarity'
Navibulgar, Bulgaria's biggest shipping company, said it had appointed an agent in Sweden and hired a lawyer "to defend the interests of the crew and the company."
The ship, constructed in 2022, has a crew of eight Bulgarians and nine Myanmar nationals.
"Staff from the Swedish authorities have been on board the ship since yesterday evening to carry out investigative measures," an intelligence official told AFP.
The damage to the cable occurred in Swedish territorial waters at a depth of at least 50 meters, officials said.
The cable belongs to Latvia's state radio and television center (LVRTC) which said in a statement that there had been "disruptions in data transmission services."
The company said alternatives had been found and end users would mostly not be affected although "there may be delays in data transmission speeds."
Latvia's navy on Sunday said it had identified a "suspect vessel," the Michalis San, near the location of the incident along with two other ships.
Prime Minister Evika Silina said Riga had notified the Swedish authorities and that the two countries were working together on the incident.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson confirmed he had been in contact with Silina during the day, and Sweden, Latvia and NATO are closely cooperating on the matter.
Experts and politicians have accused Russia of orchestrating a hybrid war against the West as the two sides square off over Ukraine.
NATO this month announced it was launching a new monitoring mission in the Baltic Sea involving ships and aircraft to deter attempts to target undersea infrastructure.
European Union President Ursula von der Leyen expressed "full solidarity" with countries affected by the incident. "The resilience and security of our critical infrastructure is a top priority," von der Leyen wrote on X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Voice of America
13-03-2025
- Voice of America
Kuwait frees group of jailed Americans, including contractors held on drug charges
Kuwait has released a group of American prisoners, including veterans and military contractors jailed for years on drug-related charges, in a move seen as a gesture of goodwill between two allies, a representative for the detainees told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The release follows a recent visit to the region by Adam Boehler, the Trump administration's top hostage envoy, and comes amid a continued U.S. government push to bring home American citizens jailed in foreign countries. Six of the newly freed prisoners were accompanied on a flight from Kuwait to New York by Jonathan Franks, a private consultant who works on cases involving American hostages and detainees and who had been in the country to help secure their release. "My clients and their families are grateful to the Kuwaiti government for this kind humanitarian gesture," Franks said in a statement. He said that his clients maintain their innocence and that additional Americans he represents also are expected to be released by Kuwait later. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The names of the released prisoners were not immediately made public. Kuwait, a small, oil-rich nation that borders Iraq and Saudi Arabia and is near Iran, is considered a major non-NATO ally of the United States. Secretary of State Marco Rubio paid tribute to that relationship as recently as last month, when he said the U.S. "remains steadfast in its support for Kuwait's sovereignty and the well-being of its people." The countries have had a close military partnership since America launched the 1991 Gulf War to expel Iraqi troops after Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded the country, with some 13,500 American troops stationed in Kuwait at Camp Arifjan and Ali al-Salem Air Base. But Kuwait has also detained many American military contractors on drug charges, in some cases, for years. Their families have alleged that their loved ones faced abuse while imprisoned in a country that bans alcohol and has strict laws regarding drugs. The State Department warns travelers that drug charges in Kuwait can carry long prison sentences and the death penalty. Defense cooperation agreements between the U.S. and Kuwait likely include provisions that ensure U.S. troops are subject only to American laws, though that likely doesn't include contractors. Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, his Republican administration has secured the release of American schoolteacher Marc Fogel in a prisoner swap with Russia and has announced the release by Belarus of an imprisoned U.S. citizen.
Voice of America
12-03-2025
- Voice of America
US sanctions Sweden-based gang with links to Iran
The United States on Wednesday announced sanctions against the Foxtrot Network, a Sweden-based gang accused of carrying out attacks against Israeli interests in Europe on behalf of Iran. Describing Foxtrot as one of Sweden's "most notorious criminal gangs," the U.S. Treasury and State Departments also placed sanctions on its leader Rawa Majid, with both agencies saying in statements that he had "specifically cooperated with the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security." "Iran's brazen use of transnational criminal organizations and narcotics traffickers underscores the regime's attempts to achieve its aims through any means, with no regard for the cost to communities across Europe," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. The sanctions, which usually include asset freezes and U.S. entry bans, were issued in line with President Donald Trump's reinstated "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran, the agencies said. Sweden's Sapo intelligence service announced last May that it believed Iran had recruited Swedish criminal gang members as proxies to commit "acts of violence" against Israeli and other interests in Sweden. That announcement came weeks after nighttime gunfire was reported outside Israel's embassy in Stockholm, and three months after police found a live grenade lying on the grounds of the Israeli compound. At the time, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported that both Majid's Foxtrot and arch-rival gang Rumba had been recruited by the Iranian regime, citing documents from Israel's intelligence agency Mossad. DN said the Mossad documents showed Majid — a Swedish-Turkish dual national nicknamed the "Kurdish Fox" — had been arrested in Iran and ordered to cooperate with the Iranian regime or go to jail. Later, in October, the embassy was hit by gunfire, while the day after two explosions occurred near the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen. Swedish nationals have been arrested over the suspected grenade attack, according to Danish police. The attacks in Europe last year occurred as tensions soared between Iran and Israel over the devastating war in Gaza. But Sweden has struggled to contain surging gang violence in recent years, with shootings and bombings frequently occurring across the country.
Voice of America
10-03-2025
- Voice of America
Opium farming takes root in Myanmar's war-wracked landscape
Scraping opium resin off a seedpod in Myanmar's remote poppy fields, displaced farmer Aung Hla describes the narcotic crop as his only prospect in a country made barren by conflict. The 35-year-old was a rice farmer when the junta seized power in a 2021 coup, adding pro-democracy guerillas to the long-running civil conflict between the military and ethnic armed groups. Four years on, the United Nations has said Myanmar is mired in a "polycrisis" of mutually compounding conflict, poverty and environmental damage. Aung Hla was forced off his land in Moe Bye village by fighting after the coup. When he resettled, his usual crops were no longer profitable, but the hardy poppy promised "just enough for a livelihood". "Everyone thinks people grow poppy flowers to be rich, but we are just trying hard to get by," he told AFP in rural Pekon township of eastern Shan state. He says he regrets growing the substance -- the core ingredient in heroin -- but said the income is the only thing separating him from starvation. "If anyone were in my shoes, they would likely do the same." Displaced and desperate Myanmar's opium production was previously second only to Afghanistan, where poppy farming flourished following the U.S.-led invasion in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. But after the Taliban government launched a crackdown, Myanmar overtook Afghanistan as the world's biggest producer of opium in 2023, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Myanmar's opiate economy -- including the value of domestic consumption as well as exports abroad -- is estimated between $589 million and $1.57 billion, according to the UNODC. Between September and February each year, dozens of workers toil in Pekon's fields, slicing immature poppy seedpods, which ooze a small amount of sticky brown resin. Aung Naing, 48, gently transfers the collected resin from a small trough onto a leaf plate. Before the coup, which ended a brief experiment with democracy, Aung Naing was a reformed opium farmer. But wartime hardship forced him back to the crop. "There is more poppy cultivation because of difficulties in residents' livelihoods," he says. "Most of the farmers who plant poppy are displaced," he said. "Residents who can't live in their villages and fled to the jungle are working in poppy fields." In Myanmar's fringes, ethnic armed groups, border militias and the military all vie for control of local resources and the lucrative drug trade. Aung Naing says poppy earns only a slightly higher profit than food crops like corn, bean curd and potatoes, which are also vulnerable to disease when it rains. Fresh opium was generally sold by Myanmar farmers for just over $300 per kilo in 2024, according to the UNODC, a small fraction of what it fetches on the international black market. And the crop is more costly to produce than rice -- more labor intensive, requiring expensive fertilizers and with small yields. Aung Naing says he makes just shy of a $30 profit for each kilo. "How can we get rich from that?" he asks. 'Unsafe' The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates there are more than 3.5 million people displaced in Myanmar. But fleeing conflict zones to farm opium does not guarantee safety. "Military fighter jets are flying over us," said Aung Naing. "We are working in poppy fields with anxiety and fear. We feel unsafe." Opium cultivation and production in Myanmar decreased slightly between 2023 and 2024, according to the UNODC -- in part due to ongoing clashes between armed groups. "If our country were at peace and there were industries offering many job opportunities in the region, we wouldn't plant any poppy fields even if we were asked to," says farmer Shwe Khine, 43. Aung Hla agreed. With the war, he said, "we don't have any choice".
