— The damage to undersea telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland on New Year's Eve is an exceptional coincidence, Orpo admitted in a press interview.
— There is a temptation to draw some conclusions, but I won't – said the Prime Minister of Finland in an interview for the “Iltalehti” daily. Orpo commented on the detention by Finnish services of the Fitburg cargo ship suspected of damaging a telecommunications cable between Helsinki and Tallinn on Wednesday morning. The unit sailed on December 30 from St. Petersburg to Haifa, Israel.
This is not the first case of damaged undersea cables
Almost exactly a year ago, on Christmas Day 2024, the Eagle S tanker, also sailing from a Russian port and part of the so-called shadow fleet, damaged undersea cables between Finland and Estonia, including an energy cable and several telecommunications cables, by dragging an anchor along the bottom over a distance of nearly 100 km. After this incident, NATO established the Baltic Sentry mission to monitor and protect maritime infrastructure.
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What did the Finnish Prime Minister say about cable damage?
What action was taken regarding the incident?
What nationalities are the crew members of the detained ship?
Where is the Fitburg currently anchored?
According to the head of the Finnish government, it is necessary to determine whether the incident that occurred on December 31, 2025 was “an intentional act or the result of errors in navigation or weather conditions.”
Finnish police reported that All 14 crew members of the ship were detained in connection with the incident flying the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. They are citizens of Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. The daily “Helsingin Sanomat” reported that the Russian embassy expressed readiness to provide assistance to Russian crew members.
The cable was damaged in the Estonian exclusive economic zone, but Finnish services brought the ship to the coast of Finland. The vessel is currently anchored in the port of Kantvik near Helsinki for the purpose of the investigation.
The Estonian authorities also reported that Recently, several other cables have also failed, including those connecting the country with Sweden. Some of the damage, local authorities said, may have been caused by a recent storm in the Baltic Sea. The greatest doubts are raised by the cable failure of the Finnish telecommunications operator and digital service provider, Elisa. An investigation is underway into this matter. Internet connections between Finland and Estonia and the operation of IT systems are currently provided by other undersea cables connecting the two countries, said the Estonian Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs.
