Another case of cable damage found in the Baltic Sea – Yle

In the Baltic Sea, in the Swedish economic zone off the coast of Gotland, a new submarine telecommunications cable was found to be broken. An investigation has been launched and the Coast Guard has sent a ship to the scene.

According to Finnish broadcaster Yle, the cable in question is C-Lion 1, which runs between Finland and Germany. The same cable has already been damaged twice in 2024.

The Swedish Defense Forces confirmed to journalists that they were aware of the incident.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on social network X that he was aware of the problem and that information about possible damage was being taken very seriously.

According to the Coast Guard, it is unclear when the alleged cable break occurred, but the authorities have been aware of the incident since yesterday.

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said it was necessary to investigate the damage to the cable. According to him, the damage is not likely to affect Finnish telecommunications connections.

Orpo also called for calm but still called the actions of the Russian shadow fleet in the Baltic Sea alarming.

According to him, the activities of the shadow fleet have increased instability in the Baltic Sea and it is necessary to foresee the possibility of intervention.

A ship was sent to the scene.

According to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, the recent damage to the cable is being investigated as alleged sabotage.

Hannu Muikku, the commercial director of Cinia, the state-owned company that manages the cable, also confirmed that damage had been found on the cable, but claimed that the cable was not severed.

"The damage has been detected, but it does not currently affect the traffic transmitted by the cable. Someone could have moved the cable or hit it. We have no more specific information about the cause of the damage. It may or may not be an external factor," he said.

According to Muikku, the cable repair has not yet begun. Cinia has asked the Finnish National Criminal Police to investigate the damage.

According to Yle's source, the cable break off the coast of Gotland "does not necessarily imply the emergence of a new external attacker."

A preliminary investigation into the incident has been launched with the assistance of the Swedish Coast Guard.

According to the online service MarineTraffic, on Wednesday, a vessel to repair Telepaatti cables entered the coast of Gotland. On Thursday morning, the vessel headed back to the Finnish city of Turku. The ship arrived there on Thursday evening, around midnight.

However, the ship's route is not related to the C-lion submarine cable collapse, Hannu Muikku said. According to him, Telepaatti did not repair the Cinia cables.

It is known that the cable has already been damaged twice at the end of 2024. On Christmas Day, it was cut by the Eagle S ship, and it was also damaged in November. Tapio Frantti, a professor of cybersecurity at the University of Jyväskylä, said the cable cut in November was most likely a deliberate act, not an accident.

According to the Supo security police, about 200 submarine cable breaks occur annually worldwide. The most common cause of a break is human activity, such as fishing or anchoring.

European Commission Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen said that the EU should be able to protect its critical infrastructure better.

"It is important that there is cooperation between member states, the EU, and NATO in this area. Of course, NATO's presence also has an impact," she said.

According to her, it is important to invest in new technologies, such as sensors, and to use satellites and drones to monitor the Baltic Sea.

C-Lion1 was commissioned in 2016. It is the only Finnish submarine cable going directly to Central Europe.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, at the end of January, a Latvian radio cable was damaged in the Baltic Sea at a depth of 50 meters. Criminal proceedings were opened and a vessel that may be involved in the damage was detained.

We would also like to remind you that on Christmas Day, a power line between Finland and Estonia was damaged in the Baltic Sea. Terrorism was not ruled out as a cause of the accident. Earlier, foreign vessels, including a container ship from China, damaged a gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia.

Finland has not ruled out that Russia may be involved in this incident, financing such actions through "shadow fleets." The European Commission has condemned any attacks on Europe's critical infrastructure and promised to take measures, including sanctions against Russia's shadow fleet.

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