Police say a Norwegian-owned and Russian-crewed ship that authorities suspect may have been involved in damage to an underwater fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland has been stopped off Norway.

Norwegian police seized a Russian-crewed ship on suspicion of being involved in causing “serious damage” to a fiber cable in the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Sweden.

Norwegian authorities detained a second vessel suspected of the latest data cable breach in the Baltic Sea, following a similar move by Sweden that’s probing the incident as sabotage.

The authorities said they believed the vessel may have been involved in damaging the cable, the latest act of apparent sabotage in the Baltic Sea.

The NATO military alliance is ramping up efforts to protect undersea cables in the region amid growing concerns of Russian sabotage and spying. View on euronews

Police in Norway said Friday they had released a Russian-crewed cargo ship seized over suspected involvement in damage to a fibre-optic cable in the Baltic Sea, having found no evidence linking it to the incident.

TradeWinds already reported about the 5,353-dwt fish carrier Silver Daniel (built 1989) being held in the Norwegian port. Norway acted upon a request by Latvian authorities, which had suspected the Silver Daniel of involvement in the sabotage last week of a fibre-optic cable linking Latvia with Sweden.

Norwegian authorities on Friday said they seized a commercial ship with an all-Russian crew suspected of damaging an undersea telecom cable in the Baltic Sea.

Norwegian authorities have detained the Russian crew of a Norwegian-owned vessel in connection with the severing of an undersea fiber optic cable between Sweden and Latvia. The detention was carried out at the request of Latvian authorities.