Nations around the Baltic Sea have been on high alert following suspected sabotage of undersea infrastructure in recent months, with some observers suggesting Russia is to blame.
The Norway-flagged Silver Dania was sailing between St. Petersburg and Murmansk when Norwegian police stopped it Thursday evening off the coast of Tromso in northern Norway.
"The ship is suspected to have been involved in serious damage to a fiber cable in the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Sweden," Norwegian police said in a statement.
Law enforcement agents boarded the vessel to conduct searches, interrogate crew members and secure evidence. Police said the crew, made up entirely of Russians, and its shipowner were cooperating with the investigation.
The vessel's owner, shipping company Silver Sea, told AFP that it "did nothing wrong."
"We sailed near Gotland but we did not cast anchor," Silver Sea head Tormod Fossmark said, referring to the Swedish island near the site of the cable damage.
"The Norwegian authorities have brought us into port to clear us of any involvement," Fossmark added.
Sweden and Latvia announced on Jan. 26 that a fiber optic cable owned by Latvia's state radio and television center LVRTC was damaged between Gotland and Ventspils, Latvia.
On the same day, Swedish authorities seized another vessel, the Malta-flagged Vezhen, and launched an "aggravated sabotage" investigation.
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