Gulf of Finland Coast Guard (SLMV) / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
The Finnish coastguard approached the vessel and detained its crew
Finnish police have detained a vessel sailing from Russia, which is suspected of damaging an undersea telecoms cable running from Helsinki to Estonia across the Gulf of Finland.
The cargo vessel, the Fitburg, was sailing from St Petersburg to the port of Haifa in Israel, under the flag of St Vincent and Grenadines.
All 14 crew members were arrested after the cable owned by Finnish telecoms operator Elisa was damaged. The operator said in a statement that the damage had “not affected the functionality of Elisa’s services in any way”, and its services had been re-routed.
The Baltic Sea has seen a series of incidents in recent years in which underwater cables have been damaged or completely cut.
Many experts and political leaders have viewed the recent incidents as part of a “hybrid war” carried out by Russia against Western countries. The issue has come under increased focus since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Police said they were investigating “aggravated disruption of telecommunications” and “aggravated sabotage and attempted aggravated sabotage”.
The detained crew members were Russian, Georgian, Kazakh and Azerbaijani, police added.
Undersea cables carry crucial electricity and data between countries, and keep people connected to the
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