GENEVA

Latvia’s state police said Monday they have finished inspecting a ship that was initially suspected of damaging an optical cable in the Baltic Sea and found no evidence so far linking the vessel to the incident.

In an update, police said officers boarded the ship at the port of Liepaja on Sunday night, working with the Coast Guard and other internal security agencies. They inspected the vessel, its anchor, technical equipment, and logs, and questioned several people on board.

“The State Police finished work on the ship last night, which was initially suspected of possible cable damage in the Baltic Sea,” the statement said, adding that the crew “cooperated with the police by voluntarily issuing all necessary information necessary for the investigation.”

It noted that at the current stage, “the information obtained in the criminal proceedings does not indicate the connection of the specific ship with the damage to the optical cable,” while stressing that investigative work remains underway to determine how the cable was damaged.

Authorities said they were notified that an optical cable belonging to a private company was damaged on Jan. 2 in the Baltic Sea near Liepaja, within Latvia’s territorial waters, prompting the immediate launch of an investigation.

According to information analyzed by the Coast Guard Service of the National Armed Forces, investigators established that a ship may have moved over an inactive cable before changing course toward an active one that was later found damaged.

Police confirmed that neither the ship nor its crew had been detained and that they continued to cooperate with investigators.

Criminal proceedings have been opened over the suspected intentional damage to electrical and electronic communications infrastructure. The investigation is being handled by the State Police’s Department for Combating Serious and Serial Organized Crime, working closely with the prosecutor’s office.