The Prime Minister of Latvia, Evika Silina, announced that an undersea cable owned by a private company has been damaged in the Baltic Sea. According to LSM, the damage was discovered near Liepaja.
Silina stated on social media: «I am in contact with the Crisis Management Center and relevant authorities; the police are conducting an investigation».
Arvis Zile, head of the Crisis Management Center, informed Latvian television that the report of potential cable damage was received on January 3 from the Lithuanian Crisis Management Center.
After contacting the cable owner, it was confirmed that the cable had indeed been damaged, and efforts are currently underway to locate the damage.
The exact causes of the incident remain unknown.
Zile noted, «We cannot yet speculate on the reasons for the damage. The company is conducting its own analysis and measurements, and is not ruling out any theories at this time. I can confirm that the damage has not affected Latvian users».
Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances of the incident.
The police reported that a vessel may have caused the damage; according to information analyzed by the National Armed Forces, it passed over an inactive cable before changing course towards the active, now damaged cable.
On Sunday evening, officers of the State Police, together with the Coast Guard, boarded the vessel suspected of involvement, which was docked in Liepaja. The vessel and its crew have not been detained and are cooperating with the police.
The police have initiated a criminal case regarding the intentional destruction or damage of public electronic communication networks.
On December 31, Finnish telecommunications company Elisa reported damage to the cable connection between Finland and Estonia in the Gulf of Finland. On the same day, Finnish authorities detained a vessel suspected of harming the underwater telecommunications infrastructure.
On January 1, Finland announced that two crew members of the vessel Fitburg, suspected of damaging the cable on New Year's Eve, had been arrested.