Finland Takes Action Against Cargo Ship Amid Undersea Cable Damage Investigation

Finnish authorities announced on Wednesday that they had detained a cargo ship suspected of having caused damage to a telecommunications cable that connects Helsinki and Tallinn, situated in the Gulf of Finland.

The vessel, identified by the Finnish Border Guard as the Fitburg, measures 132 meters in length and sails under the flag of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It was en route from St. Petersburg, Russia, to Haifa, Israel, at the time it was intercepted.

Fourteen crew members, hailing from Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan, were taken into custody for interrogation, according to National Police Commissioner Ilkka Koskimaki.

The Russian embassy in Finland stated its readiness to assist the detained Russian sailors.

Finnish authorities reported that the Fitburg is suspected of having “caused damage” to a data cable belonging to the Finnish telecommunications company Elisa, which is situated within Estonia’s exclusive economic zone.

Elisa indicated it had noticed a fault in the cable earlier on Wednesday and promptly informed Finnish officials, assuring that service disruptions were negligible as rerouting measures were taken.

A patrol boat and a helicopter from the Finnish Border Guard located the Fitburg within Finland’s exclusive economic zone, where its anchor chain was observed to be in the water. Following this, authorities commanded the ship to halt, lift its anchor, and move into Finnish territorial waters, where it was subsequently seized.

Since the onset of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western officials and security analysts have increasingly considered potential sabotage of undersea cables in the Baltic Sea as part of a larger strategy of so-called “hybrid warfare” aimed at NATO nations.

“Finland is equipped to handle various security challenges and will respond as necessary,” stated President Alexander Stubb in a message shared on X.

Finnish law enforcement indicated that their investigation pertains to “aggravated criminal damage, attempted aggravated criminal damage, and aggravated interference with telecommunications.”

Robin Lardot, the head of Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, noted that a technical examination of the Fitburg was underway, and that authorities were in communication with the ship’s flag state.

Deputy Prosecutor General Jukka Rappe informed Finnish broadcaster Yle that he had initiated a preliminary criminal investigation, while emphasizing that the possibility of the incident being accidental had not been dismissed.

Police confirmed they are collaborating with numerous national and international bodies, including Estonian officials.

On Thursday, Yle reported, citing customs officials, that the Fitburg was transporting steel products that are subject to Western sanctions.

This incident follows a similar event on Christmas Day 2024, when the oil tanker Eagle S, registered in the Cook Islands, damaged five undersea cables in the Gulf of Finland after dragging its anchor along the seabed.

In October, a Helsinki district court determined it lacked the jurisdiction to prosecute three senior officers from that vessel, suggesting that the matter should be addressed by the ship’s flag state or the home countries of the defendants. Finnish prosecutors have since appealed this ruling.

Reporting by AFP contributed to this article.