HELSINKI, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Swedish authorities have canceled the confiscation of the cargo ship Vezhen, which was linked to the breakage of an underwater fiber optic cable between Sweden and Latvia on Jan. 26, Swedish Television (SVT) reported Monday.
"The investigation now clearly shows that it is not a case of sabotage," the Swedish prosecution authority said in a statement.
Although Vezhen was found responsible for damaging the cable, investigators found no evidence of deliberate sabotage, according to Mats Ljungqvist, a senior prosecutor at the National Security Unit of the Swedish Prosecution Authority. He said the incident was caused by deficient equipment, poor seamanship, and weather conditions.
The damaged fiber optic cable, connecting Latvia and Sweden's Gotland Island, was part of a series of recent disruptions to undersea internet and energy cables in the Baltic Sea.
Following the Jan. 26 incident, Swedish authorities seized Vezhen on suspicion of sabotage and launched a criminal investigation. The vessel, a bulk carrier sailing under the Maltese flag and operated by a Bulgarian company, was escorted to the southeastern Swedish port of Karlskrona and placed under confiscation.
With the investigation ruling out sabotage, the ship can now continue its voyage, SVT reported. ■
