Baltic Sea News

The Swedish coast guard on Thursday boarded a Liberia-flagged bulk carrier suspected of dumping waste in the Baltic Sea, Sweden's civil defence minister said."This is a clear example of how the coast guard conducts active maritime surveillance to combat environmental crimes," Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said in a post on X, without naming the vessel.(Reuters)

Sweden is proposing legislation to increase security in the Baltic Sea by expanding its coast guard's ability to conduct maritime surveillance, the Nordic country's defence ministry said on Friday.The Baltic Sea region is on heightened alert following a string of undersea cable and gas pipeline outages in the years following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, as well as recent drone sightings and airspace violations."We have not chosen our external situation, but we must deal with the reality we face," Sweden's Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin said in a statement.NATO, of which Swe

DFDS and TT Line have entered into a space charter agreement on three ferry routes in the Baltic Sea. With the agreement, DFDS will increase the number of sailings offered between Klaipeda and Karlshamn, as well as bring new services to Trelleborg and Travemünde.Passenger and freight customers will be able to book all services connecting to and from Klaipeda, regardless of which of the two ferry companies is operating the crossing.The agreement covers all sailings on the Klaipeda to Karlshamn route, where both operators currently offer sailings.

Germany has pledged additional measures to further counter Russia's so-called "shadow fleet" operating in the Baltic and North Sea, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday in a statement.Western sanctions aimed at cutting Russia's oil revenues following its invasion of Ukraine have led to the rise of a vast "shadow fleet" of tankers that helps Moscow to keep its crude exports flowing.From Tuesday German authorities have begun questioning passing tankers about their insurance coverage against oil pollution damage, the foreign ministry said, adding that the insurance coverage of "shadow fleet" vess

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed to mark bilateral cooperation and digital innovation in maritime technologies between German and Latvian public and private sector partners to address challenges in port infrastructure management in the Baltic Sea.The signatories include LMT, the Freeport of Riga, the Port of Hamburg, the Electronic Communications Office of Latvia, the Fleet of Hamburg, and LVR Flote.The objectives of the memorandum are twofold: to identify the key challenges in the port and maritime sector…

Finnish power grid operator Fingrid said on Friday it expects the Estlink 2 subsea power cable between Finland and Estonia, which was damaged in December, to return to commercial use on June 25, slightly earlier than seen before.Fingrid, which last month predicted the cable would be back in operation on July 15, said in a statement repair work was progressing faster than expected.Finnish authorities in December seized a ship carrying Russian oil in the Baltic Sea on suspicion it caused the outage by dragging its anchor across the power cable as well as four internet lines.(Reuters/Reporting by

Poland is looking into whether any explosive devices were planted where a ship from Russia's "shadow fleet" was seen moving suspiciously near a power cable linking Poland with Sweden on Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.NATO has beefed up security in the Baltic following a string of incidents in which power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines were damaged in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022."Shadow fleet" refers to vessels used by Russia to ship oil…

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russia would defend its ships using the Baltic Sea with all means available and that a failed Estonian attempt to seize a tanker there recently showed that Moscow could respond with tough actionif it had to.Estonia said on Thursday last week that Moscow had briefly sent a fighter jet into NATO airspace over the Baltic Sea during an Estonian attempt to stop a Russian-bound oil tanker thought to be part of a "shadow fleet" defying Western sanctions on Moscow.Russia, the world's second-largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia, on Sunday then detained a Greek-owne

A major naval operation concluded in the Baltic Sea on Monday, with warships, divers and underwater drone operators detonating unexploded mines left over from the two World Wars - and taking the chance to check on underwater power cables in the area.Twelve warships and 19 teams of mine clearance divers and underwater drone operators from 13 NATO countries took part in the mission to locate and neutralize unexploded mines and ordnance from both World War I and World War II.But…

A Swedish probe found no conclusive evidence to suggest that a Chinese ship had deliberately dragged its anchor to damage two Baltic Sea cables, Sweden's Accident Investigation Authority said on Tuesday, though a separate investigation remains under way.The Yi Peng 3 bulk carrier has been under investigation for dragging its anchor and breaching two subsea fibre-optic communications cables in Swedish economic waters, one linking Finland and Germany and the other connecting Sweden to Lithuania, on November 17-18 last year."It cannot be determined with certainty whether a Chinese ship intentiona

The Swedish navy’s submarine rescue vessel has taken on an additional role as it has been called on to investigate incidents of damage to undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.The Belos, equipped with sonar, a helipad, divers, undersea vehicles and a positioning system that allows it to stay relatively still even in high seas, provides rescue capabilities to Sweden’s submarine fleet if needed.On a spring day in April, the vessel sailed to a location off the coast of southern Sweden where its divers practised descending to the sea floor in a diving bell…

The Estonian navy detained and boarded a Russia-bound oil tanker on an EU sanctions list on Friday, accusing it of sailing illegally without a valid country flag.The vessel, the Kiwala, has been under EU sanctions since February as part of Russia's so-called "shadow fleet", a term Western countries use for ships they say Moscow deploys to circumvent international sanctions. The ships are typically not regulated or insured by conventional Western providers.The Kiwala was on its way to Russia at the time of the seizure, MarineTraffic data showed.

Tallink Grupp has entered into new cooperation agreement for 2025 with Finnish non-profit organisation John Nurminen Foundation, whose activities are aimed at protecting the Baltic Sea. In 2025, about USD $0.20 (EUR 0.20) from each Captain’s chocolate bar sold onboard company’s vessels will be donated to the foundation towards key partnership projects aimed at saving the Baltic Sea, its environment and culture. Tallink Grupp’s travel retail subsidiary, Tallink Duty Free, is in its third year of partnering with the foundation.

Finland's telecoms operator said the damage reported last week to its C-Lion1 telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea may have occurred as early as January 26, the same day a cargo ship broke another undersea cable in the area.Swedish and Finnish police said on Friday they were investigating a suspected case of sabotage of the C-Lion1 cable running along the seabed from Finland to Germany, while adding it was not immediately clear when the damage had occurred.The Baltic Sea region is on alert and the NATO alliance has boosted its presence after a series of power cable…

Sweden is investigating a possible breach of an undersea cable off the country's southwestern coast in the Baltic Sea, the coastguard said on Friday, in an area where multiple seabed cables have been damaged in recent months.The Baltic Sea region is on alert and the NATO alliance has boosted its presence after a series of power cable, telecom and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Estonia's navy is prepared to act against vessels that pose a danger to Baltic Sea infrastructure even if they are in international waters, a senior official patrolling the busy Gulf of Finland shipping lane said.The Baltic Sea region is on alert and the NATO alliance has boosted its presence after a series of power cable, telecom and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Most were caused by civilian ships dragging their anchors.While some of the underwater breaches have been ruled accidental…

Bad weather, bad equipment and poor seamanship ... the recipe for many at sea accidents ... was the culprit in a recent subsea cable break; not sabotage with Russia and China fingerprints.These are the findings of a Swedish prosecuter when discussing why the  Maltese-flagged cargo ships Vezhen was released, because the did damage it did to the subsea cable linking Sweden and Latvia was an accident, not sabotage.The incident took place on Jan. 26 and was one of several in recent months…

Norwegian police said on Friday they had seized and boarded a Norwegian ship with an all-Russian crew on suspicion of involvement in causing damage to a telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea, the second vessel to be named by investigators in the case.The Silver Dania cargo ship was seized at the request of Latvian authorities, and with the help of Norway's coast guard, police in the northern Norwegian city of Tromsoe said."It is suspected that the ship has been involved in serious damage to a fibre cable in the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Sweden…

Shipping companies using the Baltic Sea, one of the world’s busiest maritime routes, may face a new fee to help finance the protection of critical undersea cables, Estonia’s defense minister suggested on Wednesday. The proposal comes in response to a series of breaches that have raised security concerns.Last week, NATO announced plans to deploy frigates, patrol aircraft, and drones in the Baltic Sea following multiple incidents where ships allegedly damaged power and communication cables with their anchors in suspected acts of sabotage.Beyond military patrols…

A Finnish court today denied a request for the release of an oil tanker suspected by police of damaging an undersea power line and four telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea last week. The incident was one of several since 2022 in which underwater critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea has suffered suspicious damage. Baltic Sea nations are on high alert and NATO has said it will boost its presence in the Baltic Sea.The following is a timeline of major 'incidents' since September 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.SEPT 2022: NORD STREAM BLASTSNord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2…

In the case of the oil tanker suspected of purposefully dragging its anchor to break a subsea power line and telecom cables, the plot thickens.The owner of an oil tanker seized by Finland on suspicion of breaking the power line and four telecoms cables in the Baltic Sea last week is seeking the release of the ship, a lawyer representing the company said on Monday. Finnish police and coast guard officials boarded the Cook Islands-registered Eagle S on Thursday and brought it to…

Finnish police said on Sunday they had found tracks that drag on for dozens of kilometres along the bottom of the Baltic Sea where a tanker carrying Russian oil is suspected of breaking a power line and four telecoms cables with its anchor.The Cook Islands-registered Eagle S was boarded by Finnish police and coast guard officials on Thursday and sailed into Finnish waters where the crew of the impounded tanker is being questioned.Baltic Sea nations have been on high alert after a string of outages of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Finnish authorities are moving an impounded tanker closer to port after boarding the vessel carrying Russian oil earlier this week on suspicion it had damaged an undersea power line and four telecoms cables.Baltic Sea nations have been on high alert after a string of outages of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and NATO said on Friday it would boost its presence in the region.The Cook Islands-registered ship, named by authorities as the Eagle S…