Finnish police seized the ship on 31 December and their investigation into its activities continue
The vessel that damaged an undersea cable linking Helsinki and Estonian capital Tallinn in the Gulf of Finland had dragged its anchor “at least several tens of kilometres” according a statement by Finnish police on Sunday. The Finnish telecoms group Elisa owns the cable, which is located in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone.
Finnish authorities detained the Fitburg on 31 December on suspicion of malicious damage to the cable as the 132-metre-long cargo ship was en route from St. Petersburg to Haifa, Israel. Finnish authorities have launched an investigation into “aggravated criminal damage, attempted aggravated criminal damage and aggravated interference with telecommunications”.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there has been a big increase in suspected sabotage of undersea infrastructure as part of a hybrid war waged out by Russia against Western countries. The vessel’s 14-member crew members are from Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.
