Sweden, Estonia undersea telecom cable damaged

An underwater communications cable running between Sweden and Estonia has been damaged, the Swedish government said on Tuesday, reported Xinhua.

The cable was partially damaged and could still be used, it said.

The damage is believed to have occurred simultaneously with the recently discovered leak in the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia, Swedish Television (SVT) quoted Minister for Civil Defense Carl-Oskar Bohlin as saying at a press conference.

"We cannot today assess what caused the damage," he said.

The natural gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was temporarily closed on Sunday afternoon following a suspected leak on October 8.

On October 10, the authority said that the damage to the Baltic Connector gas pipeline and a data cable between Finland and Estonia was likely caused by an external actor, not caused by the normal gas transmission process.

Finland and Estonia are jointly investigating into the damage to the Baltic Connector gas pipeline and a data cable between the two countries.

The repairing works of the Baltic Connector gas pipeline will take at least five months.