- cross-posted to:
- europa@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- europa@lemmy.world
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.
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