On or before February 1, 2025, Norwegian authorities temporarily stopped the vessel 'Silver Dania' in Tromsø on suspicion of involvement in deliberate damage to an undersea fiber-optic cable between Latvia and Sweden. The ship is Norwegian-owned but has an entirely Russian crew and regularly travels between Russian ports St. Petersburg and Murmansk. Despite suspicions raised by Latvian authorities, Norwegian prosecutors found no evidence connecting the ship with the cable damage and allowed it to resume its voyage. The incident follows a series of recent undersea cable damages in the Baltic Sea region, including a prior case where Swedish authorities detained a different cargo ship with a Bulgarian owner for potentially dragging its anchor over a cable. NATO has responded by launching the 'Baltic Sentry' operation aimed at enhanced monitoring and protection of critical infrastructure in the region. There remains suspicion that Russia's so-called 'shadow fleet,' shipping vessels operated with opaque ownership to circumvent sanctions, could be conducting sabotage amid tensions linked to the Ukraine war.

On or before February 1, 2025, Norwegian authorities temporarily stopped the vessel 'Silver Dania' in Tromsø on suspicion of involvement in deliberate damage to an undersea fiber-optic cable between Latvia and Sweden. The ship is Norwegian-owned but has an entirely Russian crew and regularly travels between Russian ports St. Petersburg and Murmansk. Despite suspicions raised by Latvian authorities, Norwegian prosecutors found no evidence connecting the ship with the cable damage and allowed it to resume its voyage. The incident follows a series of recent undersea cable damages in the Baltic Sea region, including a prior case where Swedish authorities detained a different cargo ship with a Bulgarian owner for potentially dragging its anchor over a cable. NATO has responded by launching the 'Baltic Sentry' operation aimed at enhanced monitoring and protection of critical infrastructure in the region. There remains suspicion that Russia's so-called 'shadow fleet,' shipping vessels operated with opaque ownership to circumvent sanctions, could be conducting sabotage amid tensions linked to the Ukraine war.