Sweden has opened a preliminary investigation into suspected aggravated “sabotage” and ordered the detention of a vessel in the Baltic Sea suspected of damaging an underwater fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland earlier that day.

A submarine cable was damaged in the Baltic Sea, the fourth case reported by the Nordic countries in the past two months. View on euronews

Swedish authorities have seized a ship suspected of damaging a data cable running under the Baltic Sea to Latvia. The Vezhen - a Maltese-flagged ship - is now anchored outside the Swedish port of Karlskrona.

A subsea data cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged early Sunday, sparking a criminal investigation, a third such incident in the Baltic Sea in the past three months.

Another undersea data cable, this time connecting Sweden and Latvia, has been severed in the Baltic Sea, officials from both countries said Sunday. The incident prompted Sweden to launch a criminal probe into the matter and seize a "suspect vessel" headed for Russia.

Sweden's coastguard has intercepted a Bulgarian ship after fiber optic cables between Sweden and Latvia were damaged. Suspected sabotage of such undersea links in the Baltic Sea has been blamed on Russia.

Sweden is investigating damage to a data cable linked to Latvia, the latest breach in the Baltic Sea region where European authorities are on high alert.

The undersea cable is based in the Baltic Sea, and may have been deliberately damaged on Sunday, according to officials in Sweden.