New damage to telecommunications cables discovered in Finland’s exclusive economic zone.

Finnish authorities have seized a ship suspected of deliberately cutting undersea telecommunications cables amid fears of Russian sabotage in the Gulf of Finland.

Finnish Border Guard officials told a news conference in Helsinki that the seized cargo ship “Fitburg” was en route from the Russian port of St. Petersburg to Israel when Wednesday’s incident occurred.

Police and border guards said the “Fitterborg” was anchored at sea and headed for Finnish territorial waters.

Helsinki police launched an investigation into potential serious criminal damage and serious telecommunications interference.

Investigators said the Fitburg’s 14 crew members were from Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan and were all detained by Finnish police. The ship sailed under the flag of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

“Finland is ready to respond to various security challenges and we will respond as needed,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in a statement.

The Gulf of Finland is part of the Baltic Sea and borders Estonia, Finland and Russia. There have been a series of similar incidents in the area in recent years.

The submarine cable belongs to telecommunications service provider Elisa and is considered important underwater infrastructure in Finland.

The cable damage “did not affect the functionality of the Elisa service in any way,” the company said in a statement, noting that the service had been rerouted. Earlier, Elisa said it detected a fault in the cable and reported it to Finnish authorities.

In recent years, NATO has increased its presence in the Baltic Sea with frigates, aircraft and naval drones.

“We are in contact with the Finnish authorities to exchange information through the NATO Shipping Center at Allied Maritime Command in Northwood, England,” an official from the military alliance said.

Was it an intentional act?

Estonia’s Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs said a second telecommunications cable connecting the country to Finland also failed on Wednesday. It’s unclear whether the incidents are related.

Estonian President Alar Karis said on

Energy and communications infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, including underwater cables and pipelines, has been damaged in recent years.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many security analysts and political leaders have viewed the cable sabotage as part of Russia’s “hybrid war” against NATO countries and their allies.

On Christmas Day 2024, the Cook Islands-registered tanker Eagle S severed five cables in the Gulf of Finland after dragging its anchor 90 kilometers (56 miles) on the seabed.

In October, the Helsinki District Court ruled that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the case against the ship’s three senior crew members. It said it was up to the ship’s flag state or the defendant’s home country – Georgia and India – to try them

Finnish prosecutors have appealed the ruling.