A Bulgarian shipping company on Monday denied that one of its ships had intentionally damaged an underwater fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland.

Swedish authorities have seized a ship suspected of damaging a data cable running under the Baltic Sea to Latvia. The Vezhen - a Maltese-flagged ship - is now anchored outside the Swedish port of Karlskrona.

Several undersea cables running under the surface of the Baltic Sea have been damaged in suspected sabotage incidents in recent months.

SWEDISH authorities have seized a ship suspected of causing damage to underwater data cables which sparked sabotage fears. A Maltese-flagged ship – The Vezhen – was taken after

The Swedish Security Service arrested a vessel suspected of major sabotage as part of an investigation. Another submarine cable was damaged in the Baltic Sea, according to the Swedish Prosecutor's Office.

The attacks come as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania prepare to cut on February 8 their electricity links to Russia and Belarus.

After a series of suspected undersea cable cuttings, NATO has launched a new surveillance and deterrence mission to protect critical infrastructure under the Baltic Sea.

Sweden’s Security Service has seized a vessel suspected of damaging a subsea data cable between Latvia and Sweden early on Sunday, the third such incident in the Baltic Sea in the past three months.

The Vezhen was seized in Swedish waters, where it was anchored. The ship’s Bulgarian owners claim the damage was accidental, but authorities are investigating.

An undersea fiber optic cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged on Sunday, likely as a result of external influence, Latvia said, triggering an investigation by local and NATO maritime forces in the Baltic Sea.

Sweden on Sunday said it had seized a ship suspected of having damaged a fibre-optic cable under the Baltic Sea linking the country to Latvia, which sent a warship to investigate the latest apparent act of sabotage.