Finnish police were questioning four crew members aboard a ship suspected of damaging an undersea telecommunications cable linking Helsinki and the Estonian capital Tallinn. Previously, authorities detained the ship Fitburg on Wednesday, December 31st last year in the Gulf of Finland as part of the investigation.
The 132-metre-long cargo vessel was travelling from St Petersburg to Haifa when it was stopped by Finnish authorities on suspicion that its anchor may have damaged the subsea cable. The cable is owned by Finnish telecommunications company Elisa and is located within Estonia’s exclusive economic zone.
Police confirmed that all 14 crew members were initially detained for questioning. According to a statement released on Friday, February 2nd, two individuals were placed under arrest, while two others were issued travel bans. The remaining crew members were released. The crew includes nationals of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Russia.
Detective Superintendent Risto Lohi said interviews conducted so far have helped clarify the sequence of events and the different roles of the crew members.
Traficom—Finland’s transport and communications agency— examined the vessel and reported that its condition is “normal” for its age, showing only “minor” safety deficiencies, according to the statement.
Elisa stated that telecommunications services were rerouted following the damage and that customers were not affected.
The incident follows other recent cases involving damage to undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, developments that some Western officials have referred to as part of Russia’s so-called “hybrid war.”Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has also warned that Europe is facing a sharp rise in sabotage, drone incursions, and other hybrid attacks. In his 125-page report Countering Hybrid Warfare: An Active Strategy, he criticized European Union and NATO institutions for slow decision-making, arguing that Europe faces “daily and growing risks of catastrophic damage” as hybrid operations intensify.
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