Shipping firms may need to pay a fee to use the Baltic Sea, one of the world's busiest shipping routes, in order to cover the high costs of protecting undersea cables, Estonia's defence minister said on Wednesday following a spate of breaches.

A Bulgarian shipping company on Monday denied that one of its ships had intentionally damaged an underwater fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland.

Shipping firms may need to pay a tax to use the Baltic Sea to fund costly protection for underwater cables, says Estonia’s defence minister. Hanno Pevkur said the move may be needed after a series of incidents where vessels allegedly linked to Russia’s “shadow fleet” have damaged power and communications cables with their anchors in acts of suspected sabotage by Vladimir Putin ’s regime.

Estonia’s defence minister proposed on Wednesday that shipping companies may have to pay a fee to use the Baltic Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, to cover the high costs of protecting undersea cables following a series of breaches,