The issue of digital security in the Baltic Sea has once again become the number one topic for telecom operators and state services. Just a few days after the incident between Finland and Estonia, there was another damage to undersea infrastructure – this time off the coast of Latvia.
Authorities in Riga have confirmed that a fibre-optic cable belonging to a private operator was ruptured on 2 January. The incident occurred near Lipava, Latvia’s third largest city. Prime Minister Evika Silina, communicating via the X platform, indicated that there was physical damage, and preliminary findings by services suggest the involvement of a vessel. While the incident did not cause noticeable service interruptions for Latvian consumers – indicating effective network redundancy – the situation is being prioritised by law enforcement authorities.
The details of the investigation shed interesting light on the mechanics of this type of incident. According to an analysis of data from the Latvian Navy, the suspected vessel followed a trajectory that first crossed the line of the now-defunct cable before changing course towards the active infrastructure. Investigators boarded the vessel currently docked in the port of Lipava. The crew, who have submitted to questioning, are cooperating with the police and no arrests have been made at this time. The services are trying to establish whether this is an unfortunate navigational accident or gross negligence.
What is of concern to the industry, however, is the frequency of these incidents. This is the second such incident in just one week. On New Year’s Eve, a data link between Estonia and Finland was damaged. In that case, the Finnish authorities took stronger measures, arresting a vessel that was found with its anchor chain down, directly linking it to the failure.
