A broken anchor on the ship has been the subject of the investigation, and initially, there was a suspicion that someone from the crew had deliberately dragged the anchor along the seabed.
However, the investigation clearly shows that it is not a case of sabotage, says senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist at the National Unit for Security Cases.
It's simply that a powerful wave hits the ship, and this powerful wave makes the anchor jump and releases 300 meters of anchor chain, says Mats Ljungqvist to TT.
Running on autopilot
The accident occurred on January 25 at 04:20, almost a day before the cable between Sweden and Latvia was damaged, which means that the ship sailed with the anchor released for several hours.
The crew is not on watch. Therefore, they do not notice that the anchor has gone out, and one can wonder, how do you not notice that you have 300 meters of chain behind you?
It's because the crew is not steering the ship since it's on autopilot. There is no alarm that indicates the anchor has gone out. It's clear that the ship starts to slow down and turn, but the autopilot compensates for it, as it's set to navigate to a specific location.
Can it instead become a question of negligence in maritime traffic and damages?
It's something we're considering, but one should be clear about what we've investigated, which is whether this is essentially a hybrid attack against Sweden. If it's a case of negligence, it's not us who will handle it, says Mats Ljungqvist.
"Very pleased"
Aleksandr Kaltjev, CEO of the Bulgarian shipping company, has previously stated that they "haven't done anything wrong" and pointed to bad weather conditions as an explanation.
Lawyer Oscar Tiberg represents the Bulgarian shipping company and has previously requested that it be released. A hearing regarding the seizure was scheduled to take place at Gotland District Court at 13:30 on Monday.
If the ship is allowed to sail further, the shipping company will be very pleased, says Oscar Tiberg.
At 15:00, Vezhen left the anchorage to sail south.
It has been free to leave since the seizure was lifted. I don't know exactly where it's headed, but it has a cargo that needs to be delivered to a recipient, says Coast Guard press spokesperson Mattias Lindholm.
The preliminary investigation continues
The damage to the underwater cable, which runs between Sweden and Latvia, was discovered on the night of January 26 off Gotland.
A preliminary investigation into gross sabotage was initiated, and the ship was seized. Since then, it has been anchored off Karlskrona, where Swedish authorities have conducted investigations within the framework of the criminal investigation.
The preliminary investigation continues to determine if other crimes can be suspected in connection with the cable break, according to the Prosecution Authority.
