site.btaVezhen Ship Owner: Swedish Prosecution Confirmed Bulgarian Sailors Did Not Sabotage Undersea Cable

The Swedish Prosecution Authority has confirmed that the Bulgarian sailors, part of the crew of the bulk carrier Vezhen, did not commit sabotage or any other malicious acts, Alexander Kalchev, CEO of the Navigation Maritime Bulgare company that owns the Vezhen, told a press conference here on Monday. Kalchev said the ship has been released by the Swedish authorities and will continue its voyage to Uruguay as planned while also stopping in Denmark for repairs and anchor replacement.

In late January, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said that it had launched a preliminary investigation on suspicion of sabotage under aggravating circumstances and had ordered the detention of the Vezhen in the Baltic Sea, suspected of damaging an underwater optical cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland. It was suspected that one of the ship's anchors had been dragged across the seabed on the night of January 26, causing damage to the cable. On Monday, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said that the Vezhen has been released, because the investigation showed that this was not a case of sabotage.

Kalchev stated that the position of the investigating authorities in Sweden confirms what has been his belief from the beginning - that the crew did not commit sabotage or any other malicious acts. He added: "The week was extremely difficult not only for the company but for the Bulgarian seafaring as a whole. Personally, I was very upset that many people, including politicians, were going over the issue and accusing the Bulgarian sailors of improper acts."

According to Kalchev, it is yet to be established what actually damaged the cable. He added that what matters is that the anchor dropped due to the stormy weather and high waves, as he had alleged on January 28.

A Swedish prosecutor quoted by Reuters on Monday said that Vezhen did damage a subsea cable linking Sweden and Latvia last month, but it was an accident, not sabotage. He specified that the incident was related to a combination of bad weather, equipment deficiencies and poor seamanship.