According to information released yesterday night, a fishing boat is suspected of being responsible for damage to North Sea cables that disrupted phone and internet connections and sparked concerns about Russian spying.
After the SHEFA-2 communications connection was broken in the early hours of yesterday morning, a major incident was declared in the far-flung Shetland Islands.
According to some, Russia may have been responsible for the assault as part of its strategy for conducting hybrid warfare operations.
The event occurred just a few weeks after the Nord Stream gas pipelines were sabotaged, which was generally believed to be the work of the Kremlin. A few days ago, a different underwater cable damaged in the Shetlands and the Faroe Islands.
To preserve capacity for emergency communications, residents were advised not to make non-urgent calls.
To reassure locals, shops were forbidden from taking credit cards and island police increased foot patrols.
Alistair Carmichael, an MP representing Orkney and the Shetlands, brought up the matter with the government and demanded that the cables be properly safeguarded.
Engineers are attempting to repair a total outage on Shetland that is disrupting its connection to the main line, Northern Police tweeted. Computers, the internet, and phones are inoperable. Police will continue to monitor the area, and as soon as we obtain additional information, we will update you on the situation.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the Chief of the Defence Staff, forewarned earlier this year that Russia would try to damage the network of cables on the sea floor, which is in charge of 97% of global communications.
But as of Friday night, it was believed that a fishing boat with UK registration had unintentionally severed the cables’ steel and plastic sheathing.
It is believed that the ship unintentionally tore the cables apart as it dragged its anchor down the sea floor.
We are aware of a brief delay in Shetland Islands telecommunications services, a government spokeswoman stated yesterday night. We are aiming to promote the shortest rehabilitation process and the wellbeing of the locals.