Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budris has called for a review of current shipping regulations after recent incidents in which underwater cables were damaged, DPA reported, BTA reported.
“Navigation rules in the Baltic Sea need to be reviewed, especially when it comes to the use of anchors“, Budris wrote on the social network “Ex“.
In relation to the vessels used by Russia to evade sanctions, he wrote that “the shadow fleet is a major problem that puts our environment and critical infrastructure at risk“.
Budris added that “quick solutions“.
In recent weeks, alleged acts of sabotage have targeted cables and pipelines in the Baltic Sea. The damage is alleged to have been deliberately caused by ship anchors dragged along the seabed, with the latest damage to a data cable running between Sweden and Latvia, DPA notes.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Lithuanian Army, Kaspars Pudans, also spoke in favor of harmonizing national and international rules, as it is “impossible to put the entire area of the Baltic Sea under surveillance“.
He added to television journalists that at the time a submarine spotted the damaged cable, more than 70 ships were sailing in the sea between the Lithuanian city of Ventspils and the Swedish island of Gotland.
According to the director of the Lithuanian National Radio and Television, Gierts Ozols, replacing the damaged section of the cable will take from several days to several weeks.