Germany: Inspection of Cargo Ship Suspected of Involvement in Undersea Cable Damage
Due to suspicions of involvement in sabotage activities, the German Federal Police in Kiel, northern Germany, inspected the cargo ship “Arne,” which sails under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, according to the German news agency.
A spokesperson for the Federal Police declined to comment on potential findings, as the investigation is still ongoing.
According to the local German newspaper “Kieler Nachrichten,” the ship was en route from Saint Petersburg, Russia, to Seville, Spain, and it could not be ruled out that the ship was involved in damaging an underwater data cable off the coast of Gotland Island in Sweden. The newspaper noted that one of the ship’s anchors was missing.
The newspaper also reported that after questioning the ship’s crew, it was allowed to continue its journey on Friday through the Kiel Canal (the maritime link between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea).
In recent months, there have been notable incidents of damage to several undersea cables in the Baltic Sea, with suspicions that ships linked to Russia were involved in many of these sabotage operations.
Since December of last year, Finnish authorities have detained the oil tanker “Eagle S” due to suspicions of its involvement in a similar incident.
In response to the growing sabotage threats, NATO member states bordering the Baltic Sea have stepped up their naval patrols to protect underwater infrastructure.
