Sabotage in Baltic Sea: Suspicious vessel detained by Finnish police after damaging strategic telecommunications cable
Finnish police seized a ship suspected of damaging a telecommunications cable in the Gulf of Finland, an incident investigated as a possible deliberate act, according to a statement from the authorities.
Coast Guard Finland PHOTO: Profimedia
The cable, which connects Helsinki to Tallinn and belongs to the Finnish group Elisa, presented an anomaly on Wednesday morning, reported by the company.
A Finnish Coast Guard patrol boat and helicopter located the suspect vessel in Finland's exclusive economic zone, and authorities found its anchor chain in the water. The Coast Guard ordered the vessel to move and anchor in Finnish territorial waters, according to police.
The investigation aims “aggravated property damage, attempted aggravated property damage and aggravated obstruction of telecommunications”and the Finnish authorities cooperate with national and international partners, including Estonia, writes Agerpres.
In recent years, critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, including submarine cables and pipelines, has been the target of repeated incidents.
Experts believe that the intentional damage to these objectives can be part of what is called “hybrid warfare”, in the context of the tensions generated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, from February 2022.
“Finland is ready to face security challenges of all kinds and we are responding accordingly,” said Finnish President Alexander Stubb, in a statement published on Wednesday on X.
