Elisa’s data cable between Helsinki and Tallinn was damaged on Wednesday, according to the Finnish telecom firm.
According to a police statement, the Border Guard located a vessel suspected of causing the damage. Finnish authorities took control of the ship as part of a joint operation.
The suspected vessel was intercepted by the Border Guard patrol ship Turva and a helicopter in Finland’s exclusive economic zone, while the cable damage reported by Elisa is located in Estonia’s economic zone.
The police have consulted the National Prosecutor’s Office, which has issued a prosecution order.
Police are investigating the incident as aggravated criminal damage, attempted aggravated criminal damage and aggravated interference with telecommunications.
Last Christmas, an oil tanker called Eagle S dragged its anchor along the seabed, damaging several undersea cables between Finland and Estonia. The captain of the vessel claimed the incident was accidental.
Following a trial this past autumn, Helsinki District Court said it lacked jurisdiction in the case.
At 1:00pm on Wednesday, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in a post on social site X that the country "is prepared for security challenges of various kinds, and we respond to them as necessary.
By any chance could this be russia?
Almost definitely yes. The ship was coming from St. Petersburg.
Ahhh that says it all, interesting must be part of their shadow fleet
I just read the Finnish language article, which is strangely devoid of the word russia. How much more obvious can it be? How many times have we seen this exact scenario:
- tanker is registered in some exotic place
- left St petersburg or going there
- “accidentally” left its anchor scratching the bottom of the sea
No doubt everybody knows what’s going on anyhow. I propose a collaboration between Finland & Estonia to stretch unbreakable monofilament across the strait.
Or, it’s time to just stop allowing any shipping traffic to or from St Petersburg. If Russia keeps using civilian vessels from there to perform military acts of sabotage then it seems perfectly reasonable to stop allowing any vessels to travel to or from there. Any ships bound to or from that port need to travel through another countries teritorial waters to access the ocean and at this point they would be well within their rights to stop allowing those ships to travel through their waters. Enough is enough. Russia can either quit their shit or stop having a useful port in St Petersburg.
The first article I saw about this mentioned that it was coming from St. Petersburg and that it was marked “suspicious” on a site tracking sanctions despite not being an official “shadow fleet” vessel.
Seems like Border Patrol pulled off another helicopter fast-rope onto a ship’s deck - almost exactly a year after the last one.
The crew should be treated like any other hostile covert intelligence asset and operatives who get arrested during their activities, not as ordinary criminals.
Best we can do is slap on the wrist and vague promise to do better in the future.
4:53 A disruption occurs in the telecommunications network due to a cable break.
7:36 The police command center receives a report of the disruption.
7:40 The Helsinki Police Department decides to establish a situation organization.
7:49 Helsinki Police Chief Jari Liukku contacts National Police Commissioner Ilkka Koskimäki.
7:50 The situation organization is being formed. Preparation of action plans has begun.
During the morning, the police are also in contact with other authorities. The Border Guard, Customs, Defence Forces, Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom, and the Prosecution Service discuss the division of tasks with the police.
10:25 Command responsibility transfers to the police. The police had already earlier determined that a crime is suspected in connection with the case. The police have grounds to act to prevent new crimes.
11:05 The police and Border Guard descend onto the deck of the vessel Fitburg using a helicopter. The vessel is suspected of causing the cable damage.
11:11 The vessel’s bridge is under the authorities’ control. After that, the authorities carry out arrests of crew members and other security measures. The vessel is moved to a safe location where the authorities’ actions can continue.
