Latvian authorities confirmed another incident of damage to an undersea telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea and have launched an investigation to clarify the circumstances. The incident occurred on Friday near the port city of Liepaja, Latvia. The damaged cable, owned by a private company, runs from Sventoji in Lithuania to Liepaja, covering approximately 65 km.
Latvian investigators have boarded a ship in connection with the damage, although they have found no evidence linking the vessel to the incident so far. The investigation is ongoing, with the crew voluntarily cooperating. Latvian police inspected the ship’s anchor, technical equipment, and logs as part of the inquiry.
“At present, the information obtained in the criminal case does not indicate a connection of the specific ship with the damage to the optical cable,” a national police statement said.
Authorities emphasize that no vessel or crew has been formally detained.
MarineTraffic data show that four ships crossed the Lithuania–Latvia cable on January 2, when the damage was first discovered. Three of these vessels remained in the port of Liepaja on Monday.
Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina confirmed that the incident did not affect local communications users. Neighboring Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre said it was not immediately clear what caused the outage.
The Baltic Sea region has been on high alert since 2022, following a string of disruptions to power cables, telecom links, and gas pipelines after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. NATO has increased its presence in the area with frigates, aircraft, and naval drones.
