The Norwegian coast guard detained a ship on Friday whose crew is suspected of involvement in damaging underwater cables in the Baltic Sea. The vessel, flying the Norwegian flag, was detained in the port of Tromsø.

OSLO, Norway — A Norwegian-owned and Russian-crewed ship that authorities suspect may have been involved in damage to an underwater fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland has been stopped off Norway, police said Friday.

The Silver Dania was brought into the port of Tromsø in northern Norway after damage to a cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland.

Norwegian authorities on Friday said they seized a commercial ship with an all-Russian crew suspected of damaging an undersea telecom cable in the Baltic Sea.

Sweden has opened a preliminary investigation into suspected aggravated “sabotage” and ordered the detention of a vessel in the Baltic Sea suspected of damaging an underwater fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland

The Russian-crewed, Norwegian-owned ship Silver Dania is being searched in relation to damage to a fiber cable in the Baltic Sea.

Swedish authorities have seized a ship over the “aggravated sabotage” of an undersea fibre-optic cable linking Latvia with a strategically important island in Sweden.

An underwater cable connecting Latvia and Sweden was damaged on Sunday. The Swedish Coast Guard boarded the cargo ship Vezhen late Sunday evening, suspecting its involvement in the incident. The ship,

Earlier this month, NATO began a new mission dubbed "Baltic Sentry" which included frigates, maritime patrol aircraft and a fleet of naval drones to provide "enhanced surveillance and deterrence" in the Baltic Sea which the transatlantic alliance says is to protect undersea cables and pipelines.

Sweden has opened a preliminary investigation into suspected aggravated “sabotage” and ordered the detention of a vessel in the Baltic Sea suspected of damaging an underwater fiber optic cable connect

The incident is the latest in a series of cases of cables being damaged in the Baltic Sea, amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Chinese and Russian forces are increasing their patrols and operations in the US waters of the Arctic and High North latitudes, according to US naval officials.