Russian Navy may be involved in damage to Norwegian undersea cable.
Underwater fiber optic cable, laid between the mainland of Norway and Spitsbergen archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, is out of order or damaged as a result of a mysterious incident, writes the American edition The Drive, citing the company Space Norway.
The publication notes that the cable supports the satellite station at Spitsbergen, and also provides access to broadband internet in the Arctic archipelago. The publication notes that the mainland and the archipelago are connected by two cables, one of which continues to work.
The cables are strategically important for the Russian Navy in the Arctic
The Drive assures that the cables are strategically important for the Russian Navy in the Arctic, through which Russian nuclear submarines enter the Atlantic Ocean. According to the publication, this circumstance may give rise to suspicions about Russia’s involvement in the incident.
There is no evidence of Russia’s involvement in the incident
The Drive admits that there is no evidence of Russia’s role in the incident, but assures that the country has all the means to do so. The publication also admits that the underwater cable could have been damaged for other reasons, such as dredging for mineral exploration.
In November, The Drive said Russian Navy may have been involved in damaging submarine cables at the Lofoten Vesterålen Marine Observatory off the coast of northern Norway, which can track the movement of submarines.
In July 2019, the U.S. Naval Institute said the nuclear-powered deep-sea station AS-31 Losharik, which had seen a fire earlier that month, was intended for deployment in the North Atlantic. In particular, it concerns operations on the conditional line between Greenland and the British Isles (the Faroe-Icelandic Line), where the US SOSUS (SOund SUrveillance System) hydroacoustic anti-submarine sonar surveillance system is located.
