Overview
- Telecom operator Elisa detected a fault early Dec. 31 on the Helsinki–Tallinn cable and alerted authorities, who located the Fitburg with its anchor in the water and directed it into Finnish territorial waters.
- Finnish police boarded and seized the vessel, detained all 14 crew members from Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, and handed the case to the Helsinki Police Department.
- Investigators say the damage occurred in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone and are probing aggravated criminal damage, attempted aggravated criminal damage and aggravated interference with telecommunications.
- MarineTraffic data show the ship departed St. Petersburg bound for Haifa, and registry information lists Fitburg Shipping as owner and Albros Shipping & Trading as manager.
- Estonia reported a separate outage on an Arelion cable the same day, services were rerouted with limited impact, and NATO is sharing information as Finnish and Estonian authorities coordinate.