Swedes ready to flush out mystery submarine

Swedish corvette HMS Visby joins the search. Picture: AP

Navy ships, backed by helicopters, scoured the sea around the hundreds of islands scattered along the coastline near the Swedish capital in the hunt for what is believed to be a  Russian submarine.

General Sverker Goeranson, supreme commander of Sweden’s armed forces, said he was prepared to use force to bring the vessel to the surface.

“The most important value of the operation – regardless of whether we find something – is to send a very clear signal that Sweden and its armed forces are acting and are ready to act when we think this kind of activity is violating our borders,” he said.

“Our aim now is to force whatever it is up to the surface…with armed force, if necessary,” he added.

In a new twist to the story Svenska Dagbladet, a Swedish newspaper, reported that naval ships had started to converge on a spot near the island of Ingaro, which lies to the west of Stockholm. The newspaper also cited a defence source as saying the navy had made “contact” with something, and that divers had been deployed.

The possibility that a Russian vessel is at large in Swedish territorial waters has raised tensions in the Baltic region. The area has already witnessed increased Russian military activity – interpreted as a blunt signal of Moscow’s intent to exert its influence over the strategically important sea and the countries that border it.

Edgars Rinkevics, Latvia’s foreign minister, wrote on Twitter: “Closely following events in the Swedish territorial waters, may become a game changer of the security in the whole Baltic Sea region.”

The hunt for the vessel began on Friday after Swedish intelligence reportedly picked up a distress signal, on a frequency used by the Russian navy, from an unknown foreign vessel some 25 miles off the coast. Since then some 200 military personnel have been involved in the hunt, but the Swedish government has kept much of the operation shrouded in secrecy.

“The operation is still in progress and there are reasons for this,” said Peter Hultqvist, the Swedish defence minister. “We have the capacity to find the  vessel but at the moment there is nothing to indicate which country it comes from.”

Russia has denied any of its vessels are in the area, and instead blamed Holland.

“To remove tensions in the waters of the Baltic Sea and to save money of the Swedish taxpayers we would recommend (Sweden) to turn to the naval command of the Netherlands for an explanation,” a Russian defence ministry source told news agencies in Moscow.

But the Dutch navy has rebuffed these claims, explaining that one of its submarines had taken part in exercises in the Baltic but had been in port when the hunt started.

Sweden has also dismissed Russian denials, arguing that only Moscow has the resources and will to launch a covert operation in waters so close to the Swedish capital. Defence experts have speculated a Russian mini-sub might have been trying to place intelligence equipment or map the area when a technical problem forced it to abort its mission and go into hiding.