Finnish authorities have confiscated a cargo ship suspected of causing damage to a telecommunications cable that connects Helsinki to Tallinn.

The Finnish authorities have taken control of the vessel Fitburg, which was sailing under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, suspecting that it may have caused damage to a telecommunications cable linking Helsinki to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The incident has been classified by the police as a crime of aggravated destruction and interference with telecommunications.

The affected cable is owned by the Finnish telecommunications group Elisa. Authorities have directed the vessel towards Finnish territorial waters for investigation. This incident is not isolated, considering that eight NATO member states in the Baltic Sea region are on alert due to similar disruptions of critical infrastructure, in the context of heightened tensions following the war in Ukraine.