Sweden has launched an investigation into suspected sabotage after yet another underwater cable in the Baltic Sea was found damaged. The cable links Finland and Germany and is the last of a string of telecom cable disruptions in the region in recent months.

TheBaltic Searegion is on alert and theNATOalliance has boosted its presence after a series of power cable, telecom and gas pipeline outages sinceRussiainvadedUkrainein 2022. Most have been caused by civilian ships dragging their anchors.

Finnish telecom operator Cinia said on Friday that it had detected minor damage on its C-Lion1 undersea fibre-optic link connecting Finland and Germany but that there was no impact on the cables functionality.

Swedish police were investigating the matter because the breach had occurred in Swedens economic zone, police spokesperson Mathias Rutegard said. The preliminary investigation relates to suspected sabotage.

It is the third time in recent months that Cinias C-Lion1 cable was damaged, after it wascompletely severed in November and Decemberlast year.

The Swedish coastguard said it had sent a vessel to help investigate the incident off the island of Gotland.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a post to X that the government was monitoring the situation.

We take all reports of possible damage to infrastructure in the Baltic Sea very seriously. As I have said before, they must be seen in the context of the serious security situation, he said.

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Tensions have mounted around the Baltic Sea since Russias invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

A series of underwater blastsruptured the Nord Stream pipelinesthat carried Russian gas to Europe in September 2022, the cause of which has yet to be determined.

In October 2023, an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was shut down after it was damaged by the anchor of a Chinese cargo ship.

Two telecom cables in Swedish waters were severed on November 17-18 last year.

And weeks later, on December 25, the Estlink 2 electricity cable and four telecom cables linking Finland andEstoniawere damaged.

In January, NATO announced the launch of a Baltic Sea patrol mission, Baltic Sentry, to secure critical underwater infrastructure.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters)

Originally published on France24