A Norwegian-owned and Russian-crewed vessel that authorities initially suspected may have been involved in damaging an underwater fibre-optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland has been released.
Norwegian police stated on Friday evening that no information has been discovered which would link the ship, the Silver Dania, “to the act.”
"The Tromsø police district has taken a number of investigative steps and secured what we consider necessary following Latvia's request. We believe the investigation should continue, but don't see any reason for the ship to remain in Tromsø anymore," said Ronny Jorgensen, attorney for the Tromsø police.
The Silver Dania was detained on Thursday evening and handed over to the port of Tromsø in northern Norway on Friday morning by a Norwegian coast guard vessel for inspection. This followed a request from Latvian authorities and a court ruling in Norway.
Authorities claim there was suspicion that the ship, which was operating between the Russian ports of St. Petersburg and Murmansk at the time of detention, had been involved in significant underwater cable damage found in the Baltic Sea over the weekend.
The authorities did not provide further details, but stated that they were conducting a search of the ship as well as conducting interviews.
Tormod Fossmark, CEO of the SilverSea company that owns the vessel, denied that it caused any damage when it sailed through the area with the cable route, stating that the company was cooperating with authorities with regard to what they considered a "serious" matter.
"We have no involvement in this matter at all," Fossmark stated to The Associated Press. "We didn't send out anchors or take any actions in connection with the investigation," he said, emphasizing the matter would be cleared up today.
He emphasized that the ship's tracking information revealed no anomalies in its course.
Fossmark expressed his hope that the vessel, which was empty and had no cargo, would be able to resume its journey later the same day.
Damage to a data transmission cable stretching from Ventspils, Latvia, to Gotland was identified on Sunday. Later that day, Swedish prosecutors announced a preliminary investigation into suspected sabotage, as well as a detention order for a vessel thought to be responsible, the Malta-flagged Vezhen.
The Bulgarian owner of that ship stated that it is conceivable that the Vezhen may have unintentionally damaged a cable, but rejected the possibility of any sabotage or misconduct on the part of the crew.
0 Comments