Incident in the Gulf of Finland: Finland investigates cable damage and detention of Fitburg
Finland is investigating an incident in the Gulf of Finland involving damage to a submarine telecommunications cable between Finland and Estonia. The case involves the Fitburg cargo ship, which was heading from St. Petersburg to Haifa on New Year's Eve and was stopped by Finnish border guards on 31 December, DW reports.
According to the police and the Border Guard Service, the ship was in an area where damage to the Elisa cable, which provides communication between the two countries, was recorded. After the vessel was spotted with its anchor down, it was forced to move into Finnish territorial waters and then taken to the port of Kantvik. A special SIU unit, three helicopters and the patrol ships Turva and Uisko were used for the detention.
There were 14 crew members on board the Fitburg, citizens of Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. All the sailors were interrogated. Two people have been arrested on suspicion of damaging the cable, and at least three others have been banned from leaving Finland. Investigators are also checking customs information about the shipment of steel products of Russian origin, which are subject to European Union sanctions.
Risto Lohi, a senior investigator with the Central Criminal Police, said that over the past year, several similar cases of damage to underwater communications involving foreign vessels have been recorded in the Gulf of Finland. Each incident is being investigated separately, and the Finnish authorities have not yet drawn any conclusions about the intentional nature of the actions.
The situation has gained international attention amid reports from the Estonian side about the damage to several communication cables in the Baltic Sea region. This has intensified discussions about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure and the need for stricter control over shipping in strategically important maritime areas.
Image Finnish Police/Handout/REUTERS
