Finland seizes ship over Baltic cable damage

Описание: Finnish authorities have seized a cargo ship suspected of damaging undersea telecommunications infrastructure in the Gulf of Finland and detained its 14 crew members, officials said. The vessel, named Fitburg, was intercepted while sailing from Russia to Israel and escorted to a Finnish port for investigation. Crew nationals include citizens of Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan; they are in custody as police and border guard investigators examine voyage data, electronic logs and onboard equipment.

Preliminary findings suggest the ship may have dragged its anchor and severed a cable owned by Finnish telecom operator Elisa; a second cable run by a Swedish firm also failed the same day. Authorities say seabed inspections showed signs consistent with anchor dragging or deliberate interference, but stressed inquiries are ongoing and no definitive conclusions have been reached.

Finland described the vessel as Russia-linked, a disclosure that has heightened regional concern amid a series of recent incidents in the Baltic Sea affecting subsea cables and power links. Officials said the seizure complied with national and international maritime law. Moscow had not commented.

The episode comes against a backdrop of heightened vigilance over “hybrid” threats—including cyberattacks and infrastructure sabotage—since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. NATO has bolstered its presence in the Baltic Sea, and several member states remain on elevated alert. Estonia’s president expressed hope the damage was accidental, while the European Union said it was closely monitoring developments.

Service operators reported temporary outages but said contingency measures largely restored connectivity. Finnish authorities are coordinating with neighboring countries, NATO allies and infrastructure operators to assess the full extent of damage and strengthen protection and monitoring of undersea assets. Investigators cautioned that technical and logistical challenges make such probes complex and time-consuming, and pledged to pursue accountability if deliberate wrongdoing is established.