Swedish investigators have concluded that damage sustained by an underwater data cable beneath the Baltic Sea at the end of January was not a result of intentional sabotage and have released a suspected ship.

The communications cable, which transmitted information between Sweden and Latvia for a Latvian broadcaster, was damaged on January 26 by a Maltese-flagged ship named the "Vezhen," which was then seized by Swedish authorities.

The Bulgarian owners of the ship, a shipping company called Navibulgar, always denied sabotage and blamed bad weather, a conclusion which Swedish prosecutors also came to on Monday.

"It has been determined that a combination of weather conditions and inadequate equipment and seamanship contributed to the cable damage," said public prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist.

He said the "Vezhen" did cause the damage through navigational failures but ruled out sabotage, adding that the investigation would continue.

Why do Baltic Sea cables keep getting damaged?

The release of the "Vezhen" comes just days after Norwegian authorities released a Russian-crewed cargo ship which had also been suspected of involvement.

In December, Swedish police were invited aboard a Chinese ship to observe a Beijing-led probe in cable damage.

Incidents involving damaged underwater cables in the Baltic Sea have increased since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, leading European countries to suspect Moscow of involvement — which the Kremlin denies.

NATO has stepped up patrols in the region, deploying warships, fighter planes, satellites and drones as part of "Operation Baltic Sentry."

Edited by: Wesley Dockery