Finnish Authorities Free Ship Tied to Russia in Cable Sabotage Investigation
On Monday, Finnish police announced that they have lifted the seizure of a ship previously held under suspicion of sabotaging an undersea telecoms cable that connects Helsinki to Estonia across the Gulf of Finland. Despite this development, the investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
The Baltic Sea region is currently on high alert, following a series of outages affecting power cables, telecom links, and gas pipelines since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In response to these security concerns, NATO has significantly increased its military presence in the area, deploying frigates, aircraft, and naval drones to bolster regional stability.
The Fitburg cargo ship was seized by Finnish authorities on December 31, while it was en route from Russia to Israel. During the investigation, one crew member was detained. According to police statements, the ship is set to leave Finland’s territorial waters on Monday.
Risto Lohi, head of the investigation at Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, confirmed in a statement that “Finnish and Estonian police have completed their work on board the vessel, and the seizure can therefore be lifted.” This marks a significant step in the ongoing investigation, although some crew members are still subject to a travel ban.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik)
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On Monday, Finnish police announced that they have lifted the seizure of a ship previously held under suspicion of sabotaging an undersea telecoms cable that connects Helsinki to Estonia across the Gulf of Finland. Despite this development, the investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
The Baltic Sea region is currently on high alert, following a series of outages affecting power cables, telecom links, and gas pipelines since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In response to these security concerns, NATO has significantly increased its military presence in the area, deploying frigates, aircraft, and naval drones to bolster regional stability.
The Fitburg cargo ship was seized by Finnish authorities on December 31, while it was en route from Russia to Israel. During the investigation, one crew member was detained. According to police statements, the ship is set to leave Finland’s territorial waters on Monday.
Risto Lohi, head of the investigation at Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, confirmed in a statement that “Finnish and Estonian police have completed their work on board the vessel, and the seizure can therefore be lifted.” This marks a significant step in the ongoing investigation, although some crew members are still subject to a travel ban.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik)
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