Finnish authorities have detained a cargo vessel and its 14 crew members in connection with suspected damage to an undersea telecommunications cable in the Gulf of Finland. The incident, which occurred on Wednesday morning, led Finnish police to initiate an investigation into several criminal classifications. Concurrently, a second telecommunications cable between Estonia and Finland also experienced an outage. The event has prompted official statements from Finnish and Estonian presidents, the European Union, and NATO, highlighting regional concerns over critical infrastructure.
Incident Details
On Wednesday morning, Finnish authorities, including the coastguard, located the cargo vessel "Fitburg" dragging its anchor in the Gulf of Finland. The vessel, sailing under the flag of St Vincent and Grenadines, was reportedly en route from St Petersburg, Russia, to Haifa, Israel. Following its discovery, the Fitburg was directed to Finnish territorial waters.
The cable affected belongs to the Finnish telecoms operator Elisa and spans the Gulf of Finland between Helsinki and Estonia. Elisa stated that despite the damage, its services were re-routed, and functionality was not impacted.
Detainment and Investigation
Finnish police detained all 14 crew members of the "Fitburg." The crew members are identified as nationals from Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan. According to LSEG data, Fitburg Shipping Co. Ltd. owns the vessel, and Albros Shipping and Trading Ltd. manages it.
Helsinki Chief of Police Jari Liukku stated that the investigation involves aggravated disruption of telecommunications, aggravated sabotage, and attempted aggravated sabotage. Police Chief Ilkka Koskimäki emphasized that authorities would focus on investigating the facts of the event and would not speculate on whether the cable was damaged on behalf of another country.
Related Cable Outage and Regional Context
On the same day, Estonia's government reported that a second telecommunications cable connecting Estonia to Finland also experienced an outage. This cable belongs to Sweden's Arelion. It has not been clarified whether this cable runs parallel to Elisa's damaged cable.
The Baltic Sea region has experienced several incidents involving damage to power cables, telecommunications links, and gas pipelines since 2022. Eight NATO states border the Baltic Sea, and NATO has increased its presence in the region with frigates, aircraft, and naval drones. A NATO official confirmed contact with Finnish authorities for information exchange.
Official Responses
Finnish President Alexander Stubb affirmed Finland's preparedness for various security challenges. Estonian President Alar Karis expressed a hope that the act was not deliberate, pending investigation clarity. EU Technology Commissioner Henna Virkkunen posted on X that the European Commission is monitoring the incident and prepared to counter what it referred to as "hybrid threats." Finnish MP Jarno Limnell also commented on the national security implications for critical infrastructure.
Broader Concerns Regarding Undersea Cables
Undersea cables are vital infrastructure for international electricity and data transmission. NATO has previously identified deep-sea cables as critical infrastructure, warning of potential exploitation through sabotage or hybrid warfare tactics. "Hybrid warfare" is defined as tactics that can include underwater sabotage, cyber attacks, disinformation campaigns, and non-military actions aimed at destabilizing adversaries.
Previous incidents in the Baltic Sea region include:
- In December 2024, Finnish police investigated a Russian ship's potential involvement in damaging an electricity cable between Finland and Estonia.
- Around November 2024, the German government reported that damage to two Baltic Sea cables—one between Finland and Germany, and another between Lithuania and Sweden's Gotland Island—appeared to be an act of sabotage.
- Separately, in December 2024, a Russian-linked oil tanker, the "Eagle S," was investigated for allegedly damaging a power cable and multiple telecom links in the Baltic Sea by dragging its anchor. A Finnish court in October dismissed a criminal case against the "Eagle S" crew, citing a lack of proof of intent and ruling that any negligence should be addressed by the ship's flag state or the crew's home countries.