Finland seized the ship and its crew after a critical undersea cable was damaged

Finland detained a ship and its crew on Wednesday after a critical undersea telecommunications cable linking the country to Estonia was damaged, Finnish officials said.

Finnish police said in a statement that the vessel suspected of causing the damage was found with anchor chains down at sea in Finnish waters, while the location of the damage was in Estonian waters. Police later named the ship as a cargo ship flying the flag of Fitburg, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Finland’s National Police Commissioner Ilka Koskimäki told a press conference on Wednesday afternoon that all 14 crew members of the ship were detained and that the crew were citizens of Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

Such incidents have become more frequent in recent years, prompting suspicions that they are the result of sabotage and prompted NATO to launch a project earlier this year aimed at strengthening protection of particularly important undersea infrastructure.

According to Marine Traffic, which tracks the ship’s movements, the Fitberg left the Russian port of St. Petersburg on Tuesday and headed for Haifa, Israel.

After the damage was reported, Finnish authorities ordered the ship to stop and raise its anchor and then took it into custody, police said.

Finnish media reported that the special forces police and coast guard took control of the ship from a helicopter.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said the government was monitoring the situation closely and that Finland was “ready to face a variety of security challenges”.

Police said they are investigating the incident as aggravated criminal damage, attempted aggravated criminal damage and aggravated interference with telecommunications.

The damaged cable runs between Helsinki, the capital of Finland, and Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. While the extent of the damage was not immediately clear, the incident was severe enough to cause faults detected by Finnish telecommunications provider Elisa, which operates the link.

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said he had spoken to his Estonian counterpart Kristen Michael about the situation, adding that the two countries were cooperating on the matter.

Estonia’s Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs said in a statement that the country’s connections are adequately backed up through other sea and land cables, ensuring the continuity of all services.

According to the ministry, the second cable owned by the Swedish company Arilion was also damaged.

Pattern of obstruction

At least 10 undersea cables have been cut or damaged in the Baltic Sea since 2023. Some officials in Scandinavia, the Baltic states and the European Union have pointed the finger at Russia. They say the incidents appear to be part of what experts call the Kremlin’s hybrid war in the West.

Russia has consistently denied involvement, but some ships that have damaged undersea infrastructure in the past have been found to be linked to Russia.

Last year, a Baltic Sea power cable and several data cables were damaged when a Cook Islands-registered vessel dragged its anchor more than 50 miles offshore.

Finnish and European officials said the ship, Eagle-S, was part of Russia’s shadow fleet of fuel tankers, and Finland later charged its crew members. However, a court in Helsinki dismissed the case in October, saying Finland did not have jurisdiction over the case.

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