Finland detains ship for damaging underwater telecommunications cable in Baltic Sea

The Finnish Police announced this Wednesday that they are investigating a ship as a suspect in the possible breakage of an underwater telecommunications cable in the Baltic Sea that connects Finland and Estonia, in what could be a new episode of sabotage of critical infrastructure in the area.

Most of these breakdowns occurred after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is why Finnish authorities suspect that they are sabotage orchestrated by the Kremlin.

The Police, in collaboration with other authorities, began the investigation after the Finnish teleoperator Elisa notified today that it had detected a fault in one of its underwater cables within the exclusive economic zone of Estonia.

The Border Guard identified the ship suspected of causing the breakdown and later sent a patrol boat and a helicopter to the area, which detained the ship after verifying that it was sailing with one of its anchors submerged in the sea.

According to the Police statement, the border guard ordered the ship to raise anchor and move to an anchorage in Finnish territorial waters.

“The Finnish authorities have seized the vessel in a joint operation. The investigation of the case has been transferred from the Gulf of Finland Coast Guard Section to the Helsinki Police Department,” the police statement said.

The Attorney General’s Office has filed a formal accusation against the ship, which it considers suspected of a serious crime of sabotage and another of aggravated interference with communications.

In addition to the Police and Border Guard, the Finnish Armed Forces, the Customs agency, the Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom) and the Finnish electricity grid operator, Fingrid, are also involved in the investigation work.

Likewise, Finnish authorities are collaborating with those of other countries, especially Estonia, to exchange information.

“Finnish authorities have investigated a ship suspected of causing damage to a cable in the Gulf of Finland,” said Finnish President Alexander Stubb in a message on his X account.

“Finland is prepared for security challenges of various types, and we respond to them in the necessary way,” added the Finnish head of state, who cited in his message the Police, the Border Guard and other authorities linked to the investigation of the case, whom the president thanked for their work.

“We are following the situation in cooperation with the Government,” said Stubb, while the Finnish Prime Minister, Petteri Orpo, pointed out that he had a conversation with his Estonian counterpart, Kristen Michal.

“Our authorities are working with good cooperation,” Orpo said.

In recent years, Finland has been the victim of several incidents in which critical underwater infrastructure, including the Balticconnector gas pipeline and several telecommunications and high-voltage cables, were damaged in strange circumstances.

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