Bulker Suspected of Subsea Cable Sabotage Has a Broken Anchor
For the fourth time in little more than a year, a ship calling in Russia has been accused of dragging an anchor under power and cutting a subsea cable in the Baltic. For the fourth time in a row, the vessel in question has a visibly damaged port anchor.
The bulker in Sunday's incident, the Vezhen, was seized by Sweden on Sunday on suspicion of aggravated sabotage after a cable outage between Gotland and Latvia. Sweden's coast guard quickly intercepted the vessel as soon as the cable breach was identified. The crew opted to divert out of the legal safety of international waters and into Swedish territorial seas, where it was detained; when asked by SVT whether they changed course voluntarily, a senior Swedish prosecutor declined to answer.
UPDATE – Latvia-Gotland cable break: The anchor of the seized Vezhen ship appears to be damaged
— Nordic News (@Nordic_News) January 27, 2025
Photo: Johan Nilsson/TThttps://t.co/hrM6JWIw2T pic.twitter.com/MwFqALfNnl
Vezhen is operated by Bulgarian shipping company Navigation Maritime Bulgare (Navibulgar) and flagged in Malta. By examining corporate records in Hong Kong, Finnish outlet Helsingin Sanomat determined that the ultimate beneficial owner is ICBC Leasing, a financier owned by the Chinese state.
Navibulgar CEO Alexander Kalchev told SVT that the anchor came loose in heavy weather, and that it was an accident. “This is something that needs to be proven,” he said.
In a statement, the firm said that it is focused on the safety of the crew and is cooperating in the investigation.
"Navigation Maritime Bulgare JSC does not have information about any intentional actions by the crew of the m/v Vezhen that could lead to such an incident," Navibulgar said in a statement. "According to the information we have received, this is a force majeure situation that occurred due to the unfavorable hydrometeorological conditions in the area."
The Vezhen incident is the fourth of its kind since 2023, and the fourth in which the operator has claimed accidental damage. Maritime analysts have noted that in each instance, the ship would have to accidentally drop the port anchor, then overlook the effects of a dragging port anchor on speed and heading.