The Swedish coast guard seized a Bulgarian ship after a fibre-optic cable under the Baltic Sea linking Sweden to Latvia was damaged, officials said on Monday. The damage to the cable occurred in Swedish territorial waters at a depth of at least 50 metres (164 feet),

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

Swedish authorities boarded a vessel suspected of being involved in an earlier underwater sabotage of cables in the Baltic Sea on Monday.

The Nordic country has opened an investigation into the damage, just weeks after NATO stepped up its military presence in the area following a series of similar incidents.

Sweden is investigating damage to a data cable linked to Latvia, the latest breach in the Baltic Sea region where European authorities are on high alert.

Sweden detained a vessel suspected of damaging a subsea data cable connecting it with Latvia, the third such incident in the Baltic Sea in the past three months.