Finland seizes ship suspected of damaging subsea cable in Baltic Sea

Finnish authorities said Wednesday they had seized a ship suspected of damaging a subsea telecommunications cable in the Baltic Sea, the latest such incident amid concerns about Russian sabotage targeting critical infrastructure.

It follows a series of faults that have been detected in undersea cables in recent days, some likely due to recent stormy weather according to the Estonian Ministry of Justice, with two others currently being investigated. The telecommunications companies involved said there was no impact to their services, explaining redundant connections allow them to continue operating even if one route suffers a fault.

The Finnish Border Guard located a suspect ship after receiving a report from telecommunications company Elisa in the early morning of New Year’s Eve.

The fault was found in part of an Elisa cable running through Estonia’s exclusive economic zone, early on the morning of New Year’s Eve. Damage has also been reported in another subsea cable owned by Swedish network provider Arelion. 

At the time of the damage to the Elisa cable, the suspect ship was identified transiting from Estonia to Finland’s exclusive economic zone. No details have yet been released about the vessel.

Finland’s Border Guard found the ship with its anchor chain lowered into the sea and instructed the vessel to move to safe anchorage within Finland’s territorial waters.

“Finnish authorities have taken control of the vessel as part of a joint operation. 

Responsibility for leading the investigation has been transferred from the Gulf of Finland Coast Guard to the Helsinki Police Department,” the police announced.

Prosecutors in Helsinki have issued prosecution orders over the incident, which is currently being investigated as aggravated criminal damage, attempted aggravated criminal damage, and aggravated interference with telecommunications.

Familiar waters

The seizure comes more than a year after Finnish armed police detained the Eagle S, a Russia-linked oil tanker that damaged multiple cables on Christmas Day 2024. An attempt to prosecute the ship’s senior officers collapsed amid legal rulings disputing Finland’s jurisdiction over the case.

The Eagle S had departed from the Russian port of Ust-Luga on Christmas with a cargo of unleaded petrol and diesel from Russia as part of what Western countries describe as Russia’s “shadow fleet” — a collection of up to 1,000 decrepit vessels with opaque ownership structures that sail under flags of convenience to export sanctioned Russian goods, particularly oil.

The cable breaks caused by the Eagle S were among the most scrutinised in a series of recent cable faults in the Baltic Sea that alarmed onlookers who fear they are part of a Russian sabotage campaign.

In response to these incidents, NATO announced increasing patrols of the Baltic Sea involving frigates and maritime patrol aircraft, as well as “a small fleet of naval drones.”

Officials from several European countries on the North Sea and Baltic Sea previously told Recorded Future News there is increasing confidence among their governments that the incidents were accidental and not directed by the Kremlin.

One European official said they had been briefed that, on such ships with limited professionalism, incompetent ship-masters often don’t want to go through the bother of arguing with the crew to trek out to the bow of the vessel in inclement weather to hoist the anchor and avoid dragging it across the seabed, where most of the damages have occurred.