Another Undersea Cable Attacked in the Baltic Sea
A fiber-optic undersea cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged on Sunday, according to Swedish authorities. Damage to the cable was likely caused by “external influence,” said Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa.
Later that day, the Swedish Coast Guard seized a Malta-flagged vessel suspected of damaging the cable.
Russia-linked? Data from Vesselfinder shows that the vessel departed from the Russian port of Ust-Luga several days earlier and was traversing waters between the Swedish Gotland and Latvia when the damage happened.
One after the other: This incident comes after a string of attacks on undersea cables have occurred in the Baltic recently, all of which have raised suspicion of Russian sabotage.
- In November, Russia and China were suspected of severing an underwater Internet cable linking Finland to Germany, followed a few days later by another cable linking Lithuania and Sweden.
- In December, a power cable connecting Finland and Estonia was damaged. Authorities believe the Russian ship Eagle S was responsible for the attack.
Baltic sentry: In response to all these attacks, nato began a mission in early January called “Baltic Sentry.” It has deployed frigates, patrol aircraft and naval drones to secure the Baltic Sea against undersea cable attacks.
Overlooked vulnerability: The Trumpet has been warning about Western nations’ technological vulnerability since 1995, focusing particularly on the United States. nato is finally realizing this threat to its underwater assets.
Russia and China know nato is dependent on its vast network of underwater cables, and they will likely continue to target them.
Learn more: Read “The Undersea Threat to the Internet.”
