The Finnish authorities seized a cargo ship named Fitburg on Wednesday, suspecting it of damaging underwater cables in the Baltic Sea, according to a police press conference.
HELSINKI, Dec 31 (Reuters) — Finnish police took control of a vessel thought to have harmed an undersea telecom cable connecting Helsinki to Tallinn, Estonia, across the Gulf of Finland. This area has seen several suspected sabotage incidents in recent years.
“Finnish authorities have taken control of the vessel as part of a joint operation,” the police stated, adding that they are treating the incident as aggravated criminal damage. They did not provide details on the ship's name, nationality, or its crew.
Eight NATO countries border the Baltic Sea, which also borders Russia. These nations have been on high alert due to a series of outages affecting power cables, telecom links, and gas pipelines on the relatively shallow seabed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
NATO has increased its presence in the Baltic with frigates, aircraft, and naval drones over the past few years. A spokesperson for the alliance declined to comment on Wednesday’s incident.
The ship suspected of causing the damage was reportedly dragging its anchor in the water and was directed towards Finnish territorial waters, according to police and Finland's Border Guard. The damaged cable belongs to the Finnish telecom group Elisa.
“Currently, police are investigating the incident as aggravated criminal damage, attempted aggravated criminal damage, and aggravated interference with telecommunications,” the police said.
'HOPEFULLY NOT DELIBERATE,' SAYS ESTONIAN PRESIDENT
Estonia's justice ministry reported a second telecom cable connecting the country to Finland also experienced an outage on Wednesday. It was unclear if this cable, owned by Sweden’s Arelion, was running parallel to that of Elisa.
Arelion did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
“I’m worried about the reported damage… Hopefully, it was not a deliberate act, but the investigation will clarify,” said Estonia’s President Alar Karis on X.
Finland’s President Alexander Stubb commented on X that he is monitoring the situation. “Finland is prepared for various security challenges and will respond as necessary.”
In December 2024, Finland had boarded the Russian-linked oil tanker Eagle S, which was reported to have damaged a power cable and several telecom links in the Baltic Sea while dragging its anchor.
A Finnish court dismissed a criminal case against the captain and crew of the Eagle S in October, ruling that prosecutors did not prove intent and that any negligence allegations should be pursued by the ship’s flag state or the crew's home countries.