Finland Seizes Vessel Suspected in Baltic Cable Damage

Finnish authorities seized a cargo vessel in the Baltic Sea on Wednesday, suspecting it of damaging an undersea telecommunications cable connecting Helsinki and Tallinn in the Gulf of Finland. The incident, which occurred in Estonia's exclusive economic zone, has prompted an investigation into possible sabotage amid heightened regional tensions.

Police in Helsinki detained all 14 crew members aboard the ship, registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and crewed by nationals from Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan. The vessel, identified as the Fitburg, had departed from the Russian port of St. Petersburg and was en route to Haifa, Israel, according to maritime tracking data. Finnish border guards located the ship in Finland's exclusive economic zone, where its anchor chain was observed lowered into the water and dragging along the seabed. Authorities boarded the vessel, took control, and escorted it to anchorage in Finnish waters for inspection.

The damaged cable, owned by Finnish telecommunications provider Elisa, links the two capital cities and is classified as critical underwater infrastructure. Elisa reported the fault early Wednesday, alerting authorities to a...