Border guards say they found ship with anchor lowered into sea after detection of fault in Helsinki-Tallinn telecoms link

A ship suspected of damaging an underwater cable running between Helsinki and Tallinn has been seized by police.

Finnish officials say the vessel is suspected of being “responsible for the damage to the cable” owned by the telecoms group Elisa and located in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone.

No details about the identity of the vessel were disclosed.

The cable was damaged in the Gulf of Finland, part of the Baltic Sea bordered by Estonia, Finland and Russia.

Elisa, which is based in Helsinki, detected a fault in its cable early on Wednesday and reported it to Finnish authorities, police said.

  • TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.comEnglish
    116·
    6 days ago

    Does not report on what flag the vessel was flying. That is frustrating as a follower of current events.

    • perestroika@slrpnk.netEnglish
      30·
      6 days ago

      The vessel Fitburg, operated by a Turkish company Albros Shipping and Trading, crewed by citizens of Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, which MarineTraffic indicates should have the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, according to the article actually flew the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and claimed to be sailing from St. Petersburg to Haifa (there is little doubt that it came from St. Petersburg, actual destinations may change during voyage).

      Ship ID: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:402709

      It was caught with its anchor trailing in water.

      It had passed over several data cables (one of which broke) and was approaching the gas pipeline which a previous sabotage ship broke in a previous year, when Finnish coast guards boarded it with a ship and helicopter.

      (The previous case is still in court and Finnish law might need to be modified as courts say they don’t have jurisdiction over the case. To the GRU, unfortunately, “we don’t have jurisdiction” can be misunderstood as “please hire someone to do it again, it’s a safe and fun passtime”. They have somewhat biased reading skills like that.)

      A reasonably detailed article from the Estonian public broadcaster:

      Finland detains vessel after cable damaged between Tallinn and Helsinki

    • icelimit@lemmy.mlEnglish
      22·
      6 days ago

      I think this is intentional, as a ship’s flag is just where it is currently registered and very removed from where it or it’s crew might be taking orders or being paid from. The latter requires some investigation.

    • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.worldEnglish
      141·
      6 days ago

      Asia you under the impression that the Russian Shadow Fleet is flying Russian flags?

      Or are you just curious which flags they’re using at the moment?

    • Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io
      111·
      6 days ago

      The guardian, “said the ship was the Fitburg, a 132-metre-long cargo ship bearing the flag of St Vincent and the Grenadines, en route from St Petersburg, Russia to Haifa, Israel.”

      YLE.FL says “The 132-metre cargo vessel, named Fitburg, is flagged in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean.”

      You see the cool thing about reading the article is that one is then able to know the things reported IN THE ARTICLE.

  • bthest@lemmy.worldEnglish
    47·
    5 days ago

    The so-called US “Navy” needs to be disbanded and rebuilt by a cadre of Finnish naval advisers. Clearly they are a much superior force.