Norwegian police release images of damaged undersea cable salvaged from sea, Russian trawler suspected but lack of evidence
Norwegian public media outlet Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) has published photos of the undersea cable that was pulled up by Norwegian police. The cable was heavily damaged, and NRK reports that a Russian
This is what the damaged Svalbard cable looked like when it came up from the depths – NRK Troms og Finnmark
https://www.nrk.no/tromsogfinnmark/this-is-what-the-damaged-svalbard-cable-looked-like-when-it-came-up-from-the-depths-1.16895904
The undersea cable in question is a 1,300 km long cable connecting the Norwegian mainland and the Svalbard archipelago , and is believed to have been severely damaged after one of the two cables lost communication on January 7, 2022. Below is a photo of the actual cable that was pulled up. There is a gap in the steel exterior that encases the cable, exposing the inside. The cable is said to be about the thickness of a little finger.
The outermost layer of the car had a protective coating made of tar-soaked nylon thread, but that had also peeled off, and the police investigation report noted 'damage caused by being pinched in something.'
The area where the cable was damaged is regularly subject to large-scale trawling, a fishing method in which huge bottom trawls are dragged along the seabed to catch fish. These nets can weigh several tonnes and can cause the cable to become caught and become pinched on rocks or hard seabed.
There is a record of several Russian fishing boats making multiple voyages off the coast of Svalbard, and at the time the damage occurred it is known that Russian fishing boats had made a total of 140 trips along the cable.
This is not the first time that undersea cables have been damaged by ships: in October 2023, a communications cable and gas pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia was cut, reportedly by an anchor dragged by a Chinese-owned ship.
It has also been pointed out that the cable damage may have been caused artificially, i.e. deliberately. A research cable connecting the Vesterålen archipelago and the Norwegian mainland, which was cut in 2021, was found to have 'clearly traces of something having been cut with a grinder,' suggesting the existence of forces attempting to cut the cable.
Cutting undersea cables is an act that significantly damages the communications infrastructure of a country or region, and there have already been reported cases of cables being cut for military reasons.
Undersea communications cable connecting Europe and Asia cut by militant group Houthi - GIGAZINE
However, there was no evidence that the cable damage was intentional, and the Norwegian police were unable to pursue it. Rune Jensen, executive director of Space Norway , which manages and develops Norway's space infrastructure, said that the undersea fiber optic cable is very vulnerable, and said, 'Space Norway acknowledges the conclusion of the police investigation that it could not prove that the cable damage was the result of human activity. Therefore, we take that conclusion to heart and will not speculate further.'
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