Norway detains ship with Russian crew over cable damage in Baltic Sea
Photo: Norway detained a ship on suspicion of damaging a cable in the Baltic Sea (marinetraffic.com)
Norway has detained the Silver Dania on suspicion of involvement in damaging a fiber optic cable in the Baltic Sea. The ship's crew are Russians, Dagbladet reports.
Norwegian police said they had seized the Silver Dania based on a legal request from Latvia and a court order. It is registered in Norway and owned by a Norwegian company.
The Silver Dania is sailing between St. Petersburg and Murmansk. The crew are Russian citizens.
The vessel was detained by the coast guard ship KV Bison during a police-led operation on Thursday evening, January 30. The Silver Dania was in the Norwegian economic zone off the coast of the Troms region. The Norwegian vessel was brought to the port of Tromsø in the morning.
Police are conducting a search, interrogation, and evidence-gathering operation on the vessel.
Damage to cables in Baltic Sea
At the end of 2024, underwater communication cables between Finland and Estonia were damaged in the Baltic Sea. The investigation led to the detention of the Eagle S vessel, which is part of Russia's shadow fleet.
Two other data cables between Finland and Germany were previously severed. The Chinese cargo ship Yi Peng 3 with a Russian captain was among the suspects.
Following these incidents, NATO sent a mission to patrol the Baltic Sea.
However, on January 26, it became known about new damage to the fiber optic cable between Latvia and Sweden in the Baltic Sea.
