We are deeply concerned about the severed cable in the Baltic Sea, raising suspicions of intentional damage. An investigation is underway. Our shared security relies on protecting critical infrastructure. Full statement by @ElinaValtonen and @ABaerbock: https://t.co/jfgHlFLduP pic.twitter.com/5oM46cFZdb
— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) November 18, 2024
Two undersea internet cables in the Baltic Sea were suddenly disrupted on Sunday and Monday, according to local telecommunications companies. The incidents have sparked fresh warnings of possible Russian interference with global undersea infrastructure. Telia Lithuania confirmed that a communications cable between Lithuania and Sweden was cut on Sunday morning around 10:00 a.m. local time.
Telecoms cable break reported between Finland and Germany
All telecommunications running on the submarine cable have been cut off. A cybersecurity expert says that the cable break is likely to be intentional. https://t.co/NbnYCRLODC— #cnetz (@c_netz) November 18, 2024
Audrius Stasiulaitis, a spokesperson for Telia Lithuania, said, “We can confirm that the internet traffic disruption was not caused by equipment failure but by physical damage to the fiber optic cable.”
Germany and Finland are troubled by severed deep sea cable (https://t.co/8UnLI9nBO4) – read my piece in @TIME from last year on the history of those cables: https://t.co/DQR0ZCzcXI
— Jan Eijking (@Jan_Eijking) November 19, 2024
Another cable linking Finland and Germany was also disrupted, according to Cinia, the state-controlled Finnish company that runs the link. The C-Lion cable spans nearly 1,200 kilometers (730 miles) and is the only direct connection of its kind between Finland and Central Europe. The incidents occurred as Sweden and Finland updated their guidance to citizens, with millions of households in the Nordic nations set to receive booklets on how to prepare for the effects of military conflicts, communications outages, and power cuts.
The area disrupted along the Finnish-German cable is roughly 60 to 65 miles away from the Lithuanian-Swedish cable that was cut.
Baltic Sea cables disruptions spark worry
Cinia is investigating the issue, but a physical inspection has not yet been conducted.
Ari-Jussi Knaapila, Cinia’s chief executive, mentioned that the sudden outage implies that the cable was cut by an outside force. The foreign ministers of Finland and Germany expressed deep concern about the severed C-Lion cable, raising the possibility of “hybrid warfare.” Their joint statement said, “The fact that such an incident immediately raises suspicions of intentional damage speaks volumes about the volatility of our times. A thorough investigation is underway.”
Fears of undersea sabotage are increasing, with the U.S. detecting increased Russian military activity around key undersea cables.
Two US officials said in September that the US believed Russia was now more likely to carry out potential sabotage operations on these critical pieces of infrastructure. The warning followed a report by public broadcasters in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland, which in April 2023 revealed that Russia had a fleet of suspected spy ships operating in Nordic waters, possibly to sabotage underwater cables and wind farms in the region. The extent of the disruption caused by the cable faults remains unclear, as critical data flows are typically routed through various cables to avoid overreliance on a single link.
Repair vessels are ready to go to the sites of the faults, but the duration of repairs is uncertain, with such operations typically taking between five and 15 days for submarine cables.
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