Cable damage prompts interception of Arne freighter in Germany

The German authorities have announced that an aging freighter, Arne, was stopped and boarded in Kiel following a suspected cable damage incident off Gotland last weekend.

The Antigua-flagged freighter, which was also found to be missing its port-side anchor, has raised concerns as it has been linked to similar incidents in the Baltic region, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

The freighter departed St. Petersburg on February 19, en route to Seville, and passed Gotland on the evening of February 20-21. During its transit past the southeastern side of the island, Arne reportedly slowed down by approximately three knots, drawing the attention of authorities. On the same day, Swedish authorities reported a suspected “disturbance” to the CLion1 subsea cable, which connects Germany and Finland under the Baltic Sea. Although the operator, Cinnia, stated that the disturbance did not affect the functionality of telecommunications, the timing raised suspicions.

The ship’s speed fluctuations and its course prompted NATO's Baltic monitoring mission to take action. German Federal Marine Police dispatched patrol vessels Bamberg and Neustadt to escort Arne to Kiel Bay, with Denmark’s cutter HDMS Luna joining the convoy. Arne was boarded near the entrance to the Kiel Canal on Saturday afternoon, and local media reports confirmed that the ship was missing its port-side anchor—a detail linked to other vessels suspected of damaging subsea cables in the region, such as NewNew Polar Bear and Eagle S. After a three-hour inspection, Arne was cleared to continue its journey through the Kiel Canal without further incident. 

The freighter is now heading south in the English Channel, while Finnish authorities suggest the CLion cable may have been damaged during an earlier Christmas Day incident involving the tanker Eagle S. Arne, a 27-year-old freighter flagged in Antigua and owned by a Latvian company, has a history of port state inspection deficiencies. These are typical for older vessels and include violations related to firefighting equipment, pumps, ISM code compliance, alarms, GMDSS systems, and the vessel’s VDR.

By Naila Huseynova