Norwegian police announced today that a Norwegian-flagged vessel has been detained in Tromso under suspicion of being involved in Baltic cable sabotage. Latvian authorities asked the Tromso police to detain the 5,353 dwt Silver Dania (built 1989), which was sailing between St Petersburg and Murmansk.

Nato countries have stepped up patrols to protect critical underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, which is bordered by eight countries, and other waters. A Royal Navy submarine was ordered to surface last November close to a suspected Russian spy ship which was loitering over undersea infrastructure in UK waters.

After a series of suspected undersea cable cuttings, NATO has launched a new surveillance and deterrence mission to protect critical infrastructure under the Baltic Sea.

NATO is deploying eyes in the sky and on the Baltic Sea to protect cables and pipelines that stitch together the nine countries with shores on Baltic waters