STOCKHOLM/HELSINKI, Oct 17 (Reuters) - A Baltic Sea telecom cable connecting Sweden and Estonia was damaged at roughly the same time as a Finnish-Estonian pipeline and cable were earlier this month, but remains operational, Sweden's civil defence minister said on Tuesday. The damage to the Swedish-Estonian cable was sustained outside the territorial waters and exclusive economic zone of Sweden, the country's civil defence minister, Carl-Oskar Bohlin said, and the cable had continued to function since then. VESSELS IN AREAEurope and NATO have become increasingly concerned about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure around and under the Baltic Sea. The latest incidents follow explosions in September 2022 that ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines under the Baltic Sea and cut Europe's supply of Russian gas. Finland said on Oct. 8 that the Balticconnector subsea gas pipeline and a telecommunications cable connecting Finland and Estonia had been damaged in what may have been a deliberate act.

---

Persons: Carl, Oskar Bohlin, Arelion, Ewa Skoog Haslum, NBI, Atomflot, Ulf Kristersson, Nerijus Adomaitis, Niklas Pollard, Simon Johnson, Marie, Gleb Stolyarov, Andrew Gray, Gwladys, Bill Berkrot, Mark Potter, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Estonian Economic Affairs, Communications Ministry, NATO, Reuters, National Bureau of Investigation, NewNew Shipping, Sweden's, Joint Expeditionary Force, Marie Mannes, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, HELSINKI, Sweden, Estonia, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Swedish, Finland, Hiiumaa, NATO, Baltic, Europe, Rosatom, Oslo, Stockholm, Brussels