Latvia Investigates New Cable Damage Incident in the Baltic

Latvia police have been interivewing a ship docked in Liepaja after reports of offshore cable damage (Latvia Port Authority)

Published Jan 5, 2026 12:05 PM by The Maritime Executive

Latvian authorities confirmed they are investigating damage to a subsea optical cable that happened at the end of last week in the Baltic. The authorities suspect a vessel might have been involved.

Countries along the Baltic, along with NATO, have remained on high after for more than a year after possible sabotage efforts by vessels sailing in the Baltic. After several incidents of anchor dragging and damage to cables were confirmed, patrols have been increased. Latvia launched its investigation after a similar incident last week in the Estonian EEZ led to Finland detaining a vessel.

Latvia’s Prime Minister Evika Silina announced the latest investigation, which began after a privately-owned company reported an outage on one of its cables in the Latvian EEZ. The police confirmed that they were notified of an outage on Friday, January 2. The cable located near the Latvian port of Liepaja, reportedly, connects to Sventoji, Lithuania. 

Latvian police boarded an unidentified vessel on Sunday and began interviewing the crew and inspecting the ship. The reports said Latvia’s monitoring operations had identified that the vessel first moved across an inactive cable and then changed course to move over the now-damaged optical cable. The Ship had proceeded into Liepaja, where it remains docked.

After interviewing the crew and reviewing information, the police said on Monday that they had no indications of a connection between the specific ship and the damage to the optical cable. The crew was cooperating with the investigation, and according to media reports, neither the crew nor the ship has been detained.

The Latvian police said the investigation into the cause of the cable damage remains underway. Media reports said that two other vessels had also been identified in the area of the cable, and those ships were now also docked in Latvia.

Friday’s incident follows reports on December 31 that two cables were damaged that run between Estonia and Finland. Estonian officials said in prior days, four other cables were also damaged, but in those cases, they suspected strong winter weather that had crossed the region in late December.

Finland Identifies Anchor Dragline in Investigation into Cable Damage

Finland has been detaining the Fitburg since December 31 and now says it identifed a dragline from the vessel's anchor (Finnish Border Guard)

Published Jan 5, 2026 12:35 PM by The Maritime Executive

The Helsinki Police provided an update on the ongoing investigation into the damage to a subsea telecommunications cable connecting Estonia and Finland. The police reported finding a dragline for an anchor while also cautioning that the investigation is expected to take weeks.

Finland and Estonia are jointly investigating the damage that happened in the Estonian EEZ near the border with the Finnish zone on December 31. Separately, Estonia is also investigating damage to a Swedish-owned cable that also runs to Finland, which was damaged around the same time as the cable owned by Elisa, a Finnish telecom company.

The police report they found a dragline on the seabed that runs for at least 10 kilometers (more than 6 miles). They said they have reason to believe that the Turkish-owned vessel named Fitburg had dragged its anchor on the seabed before. Teams have also been examining the vessel and its anchor for signs of damage.

The Director General of the investigation from the Central Crime Police, Risto Lohi, said they are “assessing intent and the information that influences.” To that end, the reports said they have seized the crew’s phones, and materials have been taken from the ship. The vessel remains detained in Kantvik, Finland.

 

Finland identified a dragline running more than six miles around the damaged subsea cable (Finnish Border Guard)

 

The authorities in Finland also reported that they have now formalized the arrest of two crewmembers from the vessel Fitburg. A Russian citizen from the crew of the Fitburg has been arrested on suspicion of the sabotage incident and has been banned from traveling from Finland. A second individual, an Azerbaijani citizen, was also placed under arrest on Sunday and was also banned from leaving Finland. A third crewmember has also been banned from leaving Finland.

Under Finnish law, while the crewmembers remain under suspicion and have not been charged with a crime, the arrests and detention are reviewed on a weekly basis. They are being investigated on suspicion of aggravated damage and attempted aggravated damage. The police said the investigation will continue for weeks, looking at the ship and the conditions underwater.

The vessel’s owners have retained the same lawyer who represented the tanker Eagle S and the three crewmembers who were charged earlier this year with a similar case of damage when the shadow tanker dragged its anchor on December 24, 2024. The owners of the Fitburg said they cannot comment as they have not yet been able to speak with the crew due to the confiscation of the crew’s phones.

This week, the Finnish Customs Authority is also expected to have additional information on the cargo aboard the Fitburg, which has also been seized. They were reviewing the sanction regulations with the EU. Customs reported the vessel was carrying a load of structural steel from Russia, which it believes is a sanctions' violation.