Image: for representation purposes only
Bulgarian shipping company Navibulgar is under scrutiny after its bulk carrier Vezhen was detained by Swedish authorities on Sunday, suspected of damaging a critical subsea communication cable linking Gotland and Latvia. The vessel, accused of dragging its anchor over the weekend and causing the breach, now finds itself at the center of an ongoing investigation into possible aggravated sabotage.
Sweden’s coast guard acted swiftly, boarding the Vezhen with a police team deployed by military helicopter before escorting the vessel into Swedish waters. While officials have yet to confirm whether the ship’s diversion was voluntary, the case has sparked widespread attention, particularly given the sensitive nature of subsea infrastructure security in the Baltic region.
Navibulgar’s CEO, Capt. Alexander Kalchev, insists the incident was purely accidental, citing severe weather conditions at the time. According to Kalchev, the Vezhen faced waves reaching 10 feet and winds gusting at 40 knots as it approached Gotland on Saturday. Footage from the ship’s bridge reportedly shows heavy seas battering the vessel’s bow, conditions that, he claims, contributed to the failure of the port anchor’s wire stopper.
Rather than a sudden drop, Kalchev explained that the anchor chain “leaked” out gradually due to tension, a slow failure that ultimately led to the anchor’s descent. He pointed to visible wear on the stopper bar as evidence that the chain slippage was unintended. “There is no way to calculate at what point the wire and guillotine would give way and drop the anchor at the exact moment when the ship is next to the cable in order to deliberately cause an incident,” Kalchev emphasized.
Amid speculation over the ship’s safety measures, Kalchev addressed concerns about the absence of an anchor alarm system on the Vezhen. He clarified that the vessel does not use anchor indicators due to their unreliability in rough maritime conditions. “We don’t have anchor indicators on these ships. When ordering the vessels, we decided that we didn’t need these,” he stated, adding that the ship’s constantly flooded open tank makes such systems ineffective.
The incident has stirred political tensions, with authorities and industry experts closely watching the outcome of Sweden’s investigation. While anchor malfunctions have been reported in the past, cases resulting in subsea cable damage remain rare. Kalchev acknowledged the gravity of the situation, stating, “Still, there is a damaged cable and there is tension, which is of a political nature. I completely understand the sensitivity surrounding the topic.”
For now, Swedish authorities remain tight-lipped on potential charges or further questioning of the crew, leaving the maritime and logistics community awaiting further developments as the investigation unfolds.
