Gotland News

The Baltic Sea region is on high alert after a string of power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and the NATO military alliance has boosted its presence with frigates, aircraft and naval drones.Several investigations are under way but no suspects have been brought to trial.FEBRUARY 2025: FINLAND-GERMANY TELECOM CABLESwedish and Finnish police said on February 21 they were investigating a suspected case of sabotage of an undersea telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea…

Sweden is investigating a possible breach of an undersea cable off the country's southwestern coast in the Baltic Sea, the coastguard said on Friday, in an area where multiple seabed cables have been damaged in recent months.The Baltic Sea region is on alert and the NATO alliance has boosted its presence after a series of power cable, telecom and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Austal Limited said that Austal Australasia has been awarded a contract valued between A$265 and A$275 million by Gotlandsbolaget of Sweden for the design and construction of a 130-m combined cycle, ‘hydrogen-ready’ vehicle passenger ferry. Part of Gotlandsbolaget’s ‘Horizon X’ program, the high-speed ROPAX catamaran will be the largest vessel ever constructed by Austal, and feature a unique, highly efficient combined cycle propulsion system that includes both gas and steam turbines – reportedly a first for high-speed craft.

An undersea fibre optic cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged on Sunday, likely as a result of external influence, Latvia said, triggering an investigation by local and NATO maritime forces in the Baltic Sea."We have determined that there is most likely external damage and that it is significant," Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina told reporters following an extraordinary government meeting.Latvia is coordinating with NATO and the countries of the Baltic Sea region to clarify the circumstances…

A Finnish court today denied a request for the release of an oil tanker suspected by police of damaging an undersea power line and four telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea last week. The incident was one of several since 2022 in which underwater critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea has suffered suspicious damage. Baltic Sea nations are on high alert and NATO has said it will boost its presence in the Baltic Sea.The following is a timeline of major 'incidents' since September 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.SEPT 2022: NORD STREAM BLASTSNord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2…

Two undersea fibre-optic communications cables in the Baltic Sea, including one linking Finland and Germany, were severed, raising suspicions of sabotage by bad actors, countries and companies involved said on Monday.The episode recalled other incidents in the same waterway that authorities have probed as potentially malicious including damage to a gas pipeline and undersea cables last year and the 2022 explosions of the Nord Sea gas pipelines.The 1,200-kilometre (745-mile) cable connecting Helsinki to the German port of Rostock stopped working around 0200 GMT on Monday…

Greenpeace activists painted slogans on an Estonian-owned tanker in the middle of the Baltic Sea on Friday, and said the ship supplied bunker fuel to vessels transporting Russian oil that posed a danger to the environment and would fuel conflict."Oil fuels war," the campaigners, who arrived in small boats, scrawled in large white letters on the side of the Zircone tanker, pictures provided by Greenpeace showed.The vessel, sitting in international waters off the Swedish island of Gotland, has supplied fuel to more than 50 oil tankers travelling to or from Russian ports in the last two months, S

Australian shipbuilding group Austal will develop a high-speed that runs on hydrogen fuel under a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Sweden's Gotlandsbolaget (Gotland Company).A 130-meter-long high-speed catamaran able to operate on hydrogen and other fossil-free fuels, the new vessel Horizon X will be able to run at 35 knots, while transporting 1,650 passengers and up to 450 vehicles.Håkan Johansson, CEO of Gotland, said, ”This is an important step in our climate journey.

Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö, a Finnish shipping company providing passenger and cargo ferry services, has agreed to sell the M/S Birka Stockholm cruise ship to Rederi AB Gotland. The sale price is around 38 million euros.Delivery of the vessel to Rederi AB Gotland is expected to occur in April 2023.The ship sale will cause a write-down amounting to around 12 million euros in Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö's Annual Report for 2022, which will be published on April 12, 2023. "This write-down deviates from the Q4 quarterly report that was published on February 28, 2023," Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö explained.Built in 2004 by Aker Finnyards in Rauma, Finland, the Birka Stockholm is 177 meters long, 28 meters wide, and can accommodate 1800.

Swedish company Gotlandsbolaget has unveiled the Gotland Hydrocat concept vessel, said to be the world's first large-scale, high-speed catamaran with fossil-free hydrogen propulsion.Slated to enter service in 2030, the high-speed vessel will operate between Gotland and the Swedish mainland, reducing crossing times to under three hours.The vessel is the second vessel in Gotlandsbolaget's Horizon series of high-speed passenger and cargo vessels, launched as a concept model in 2021 with the Gotland Horizon.

A ferry was back in the Swedish port of Nynashamn on Tuesday after a fire on the car deck temporarily knocked out its power, the Swedish Coast Guard said in a statement. The fire in a refrigerated container started at mid-day on Monday north of the island of Gotland as the Stena Scandica was heading to Ventspils in Latvia from Nynashamn. The fire was put out on Monday afternoon. No injuries were reported among the 241 passengers and 58 crew aboard, the Swedish Maritime Administration said.Suffering a power failure after the fire…

Swedish and Finnish rescue services began evacuating families and elderly passengers from a fire-stricken Swedish ferry in the Baltic sea late on Monday, but said the situation was calm and that no one had been injured.About 70 out of around 300 people onboard were scheduled to be evacuated by helicopter as the powerless vessel was drifting toward the island of Gotland and risked running aground later on Monday, at roughly 2100 GMT."We are evacuating families with children and the elderly. We have strong winds that make evacuation by boat difficult," a Swedish Maritime Administration spokesperson said.

On March 15, 2019, the world’s largest bunker supply vessel (BSV) for liquefied natural gas (LNG) Kairos conducted the first LNG bunker supply operation for the newbuild ferry MS Visborg at the ferry pier of the port of Visby.The bunker operation puts into practice the contract for the supply of LNG, which was signed by Nauticor, a leading supplier of LNG as marine fuel, and Destination Gotland, the owner and operator of the new ferry, in December 2017 and enables the ferry to…

Designers OSK, owners Rederiaktiebolaget Gotland and builders Guangzhou Shipyard International jointly celebrated the delivery of MV VISBORG  the first vessel in a series of two intended to ply the waters between Gotland’s largest city Visby and the ports of Nynaeshamn and Oscarshamn in mainland Sweden.OSK Group has played a significant role in the development and design of the powerful dual fuel RoPax ferry. OSK-ShipTech has had a dual role being consulting naval architects for…

Officials in Karlshamn in southern Sweden will allow Russia's Gazprom to use the city's port for the construction of its Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline after the government dropped its objections, the municipality said on Tuesday. The government had earlier expressed concerns about Gazprom's plans to use the port, but said on Monday the project did not threaten defense interests. Late last year, the island of Gotland rejected a similar deal to support the construction of the pipeline after the government expressed worries about national security. Both the Baltic Sea harbours at Karlshamn and Slite, Gotland, are situated in strategically sensitive areas, with Karlshamn around 50 kilometres from the large naval base at Karlskrona.

Sweden's government has dropped its objections to a plan by Russia's Gazprom to use the port of Karlshamn in southern Sweden as a base for the construction of its Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Swedish public radio reported on Monday. Officials in Karlshamn, on the Baltic sea, will take the formal decision on Tuesday, but are likely to vote yes to an agreement after the government tempered its previous objections to a deal. Late last year, the island of Gotland rejected a similar deal to support the construction of the pipeline after the government expressed worries about national security. Public broadcaster Swedish Radio reported assurances had been given that authorities would be able to keep tabs on activities at the port and that Karlshamn already handles a large number of Russian ships.

Parker Bestobell Marine, part of Parker Hannifin, has won a contract to supply cryogenic globe and check valves for two Caledonian MacBrayne Ferries (Calmac) being built at Ferguson Marine Engineering in Glasgow. The valves will be installed in the liquid natural gas (LNG) fuel gas systems of these vessels, which are the first U.K. built ships that will run on this environmentally friendly fuel. The new ferries will be ‘dual-fuel’ vessels so they can operate on both LNG and marine diesel.

Nutrient removal in membrane bioreactor wastewater treatment systems is the future. Rederi AB Gotland acts now for both savings and the sake of our seas. Rederi AB Gotland, Sweden’s oldest passenger shipping company, has chosen Evac products to equip its new LNG-fueled passenger and cargo vessels which will ply Baltic Sea routes. Each vessel will carry approximately 1,700 passengers and crew. And since the Baltic Sea is classified as a Special Area (SA), the new vessels will also carry the most state of the art nutrient removal system.

Sea trials aboard Greenland, the world’s first LNG-fuelled short-sea dry bulk vessel, have validated the performance of Thordon Bearings COMPAC propeller shaft solution, indicating that seawater-lubricated bearing systems are applicable to all ship types and are definitely here to stay. "Erik Thun has truly raised the standard in sustainable shipping with this vessel, pushing the boundaries of environmental possibilities to a completely new level," said Tommy Holmgren, Sales Director with the Duwel Group, Thordon Bearings’ distributor in Sweden.

A daily game of Cold War cat-and-mouse is ratcheting up tensions in the Baltic and drawing the biggest military presence into the region for over 20 years, Swedish military officials say. Eye-to-eye encounters with Russian combat jets and reports of suspected submarines in Swedish and Finnish waters are fuelling regional concerns about Russian assertiveness in the wake of the Ukraine crisis and reversing years of defence cuts. Western officials say Russia has stepped up probing flights and mock bomb runs near Europe's borders since 2013, forcing jets from NATO nations and non-NATO allies like Sweden to scramble repeatedly. For its part, Moscow says NATO has dramatically increased reconnaissance flights near its borders.

Bestobell Marine has secured two new contracts with Chinese shipyards. The first contract will see the company supply cryogenic valves to the Guangzhou Shipyard International, China for use in a new ferry’s LNG fuel gas system. The second contract involves Bestobell Marine producing its small cryogenic miniature needle globe valves for the Hudong shipyard in Shanghai, where they will be installed on four 174K Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Carriers. It is the first time Bestobell Marine’s cryogenic valves will be fitted within a fuel gas system for a Chinese-built project…

The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) has awarded contracts worth Skr8.6bn ($1.03bn) to Saab AB for the construction of two new Type A26 submarines and a mid-life upgrade for two Gotland-class submarines. Work on the two A26s is to be completed by 2024. Type A26 submarines are nearly 207 feet in length, 21 feet in the beam and have an endurance of 45 days or 18 days underwater. They have a test depth of about 658 feet. This new development will see Saab construct, verify, and deliver two new Type A26 submarines for the Swedish Navy for a total order value of SEK7.6bn ($912.84m). 'Extreme stealth is at the heart of the Kockums A26 submarine.

Nord Stream consortium, lead by Russian energy giant Gazprom, said on Wednesday it has stopped gas shipments via the Baltic Sea through one of its two lines as Swedish armed forces dispose of a munitions object found nearby. Total capacity of the two lines is 55 billion cubic metres per year. The consortium said a piece of munitions was found in close proximity to the Nord Stream Line 2 on Nov. "The location of the object is in the Swedish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) approximately 120 km away from the island of Gotland," Nord Stream said. It added that it was not clear when the gas supplies via the line would be resumed. It said the Swedish armed forces were on site to "safely and professionally dispose of the munitions object".