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Finnish police seize vessel linked to undersea cable incident
Finnish authorities have detained a cargo ship suspected of damaging a critical telecoms cable connecting Helsinki to Estonia. The vessel, Fitburg, was sailing from St. Petersburg to Haifa under the flag of St. Vincent and Grenadines when the incident occurred in the Gulf of Finland.
Crew arrested, services rerouted without disruption
All 14 crew members-nationals of Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan-were arrested on suspicion of aggravated disruption of telecommunications and sabotage. Finnish telecom operator Elisa confirmed the cable damage but stated its services remained unaffected after rerouting traffic.
The Finnish Coast Guard dispatched a helicopter and patrol ship to the scene Wednesday morning after Elisa detected the fault. Authorities found the vessel dragging its anchor near the cable route.
Baltic Sea tensions rise amid hybrid warfare concerns
This incident adds to a growing list of undersea cable disruptions in the Baltic Sea, which experts and political leaders increasingly view as part of Russia's hybrid warfare tactics against Western nations. The issue has gained urgency since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb emphasized the country's preparedness for such security challenges, stating, "Finland responds to them as necessary." Meanwhile, Estonia reported a simultaneous outage in a second cable linking it to Finland, though its president, Alar Karis, expressed hope the damage was accidental.
NATO and EU on high alert
The European Commission is closely monitoring the situation, with Technology Commissioner Henna Virkkunen warning of "hybrid threats" to critical infrastructure. NATO has previously flagged undersea cables as vital to civilian and military communications, vulnerable to sabotage.
"Critical infrastructure is the front line,"
Finnish MP Jarno Limnell, via X
Police Chief Ilkka Koskimäki declined to speculate on foreign involvement, telling reporters, "The police's job is to investigate what happened."
Recent Baltic Sea incidents fuel suspicions
In December 2024, Finnish authorities probed a Russian ship's possible role in sabotaging an electricity cable between Finland and Estonia. The previous month, Germany reported damage to two undersea cables-one linking Finland to Germany and another between Lithuania and Sweden-as likely sabotage.
The Baltic Sea is bordered by eight NATO members (Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden) and Russia, making its infrastructure a strategic flashpoint.
