SWEDISH WARSHIP A214

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Submarine rescue vessel investigated damaged sea cables

The Estonian Prosecutor General said on Oct 19, 2023, it would probe the damage on the Baltic Sea Telecoms cable, connecting the country to Sweden as part of its ongoing investigation about the rupture caused on another telecoms cable, connecting Tallinn with Helsinki. On Oct 8 a gas pipeline and telecoms cable connecting Finland and Estonia were broken, in what Finnish investigators believed may have been deliberate sabotage. Helsinki was investigating the pipeline incident, while Tallinn was probing the cable incident. On Oct 17, Sweden said a third link had been damaged at roughly the same time as the other two. Estonia's probe would be expanded to include both telecoms cable incidents, in a move showing a potential link between the two was being considered as the circumstances of damage to the communications cables between Estonia-Finland and Estonia-Sweden were similar. The Swedish government has been informed by Estonia that the damage to the telecommunication cable linking the two countries had resulted from an outside physical impact. On Oct 18 the 'Belos' was sent from Karlskrona to the area, and it was expected the Swedish military would provide an initial preliminary analysis of the investigation at the site within 24 hours. On Oct 20 the ship was stationary in pos. N 59° 09.31' N 021° 59.05' E. The Prosecutor General have not yet determined whether the damage to this cable was caused by human actions. Separately, the Finnish police had completed their crime scene investigation into the damage on the pipeline on the same day Estonia had surveyed the extent of the damage to the Estonia-Finland telecom cable. They were working on different investigative versions and will continue to check all important circumstances, including data related to the vessels that were in the area at the time of the events. The most recently reported incident, on the Sweden-Estonia cable, occurred in the afternoon of Oct 7. Traffic was quickly restored as the cable was only partially cut, while a ship was waiting for good weather to sail to the site and conduct permanent repairs.