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.
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.