The investigation of a weekend’s attention-grabbing damage to a cable between Sweden and Latvia has led to the Maltese-flagged cargo ship Vezhen being brought into a port in Sweden. The Swedish Security Service (Säpo) is investigating gross sabotage, but according to the shipping company, it is about the crew releasing anchors due to winds and high waves.

It was on Sunday morning that Latvia’s state media channel LSM reported that damage had been discovered on an optical underwater cable between Gotland and Ventspils. The damaged part of the cable is said to be located in the Swedish economic zone.

READ ALSO: Cable between Sweden and Latvia damaged

NATO initiated an operation, and shortly thereafter, suspicions arose against the Maltese-flagged cargo ship Vezhen, which is part of the Bulgarian shipping company Navigation Maritime Bulgare’s fleet, regarding the damage to the cable lying at a depth of 50 meters in the Baltic Sea.

The cargo ship left a port in Russia on Friday, and according to media reports, the cargo ship is said to have passed over the cable at 01:00 on Sunday night. Furthermore, it is revealed that the cargo ship is transporting fertilizer to South America.

On Sunday, the coast guard escorted the ship to a port in the archipelago of Karlskrona, where it is anchored on Monday.

Denies intent

The Swedish Security Service (Säpo) is investigating the incident as gross sabotage and has several other authorities assisting, including the National Operational Department (Noa) of the police, the coast guard, and the armed forces.

Vezhen has been seized. The crew consists of eight Bulgarian citizens and nine citizens of Myanmar – no one has been arrested on suspicion of a crime.

There are images in the Swedish media that are said to show damage to the ship’s anchor. The shipping company denies that the ship deliberately caused the damage to the cable and tells the news agency Reuters that the crew dropped anchor due to winds and high waves, which could be a cause.

Swedish Radio Ekot reports differently and suggests that the crew accidentally lost the anchor during the journey due to bad weather.

Push: Dropped anchor due to winds and waves. Säpo is investigating gross sabotage

Furthermore, SR has asked senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist about what indicates sabotage in the cable damage. This is something that Ljungqvist does not want to disclose, but he overall believes that the authorities “have a solid basis for their actions”.

READ ALSO: US newspaper’s intelligence sources: “Sabotage” in the Baltic Sea is accidents