Overview
- The vessel was identified as the 132‑meter Fitburg under the flag of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, tracked en route from St. Petersburg to Haifa with a cargo of Russian steel that Finnish customs have temporarily seized pending sanctions checks.
- Finnish Border Guard assets intercepted the ship and police special unit Karhu fast‑roped from helicopters to take control as the vessel was directed to a safe anchorage.
- Fourteen crew members from Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan were detained for questioning under investigations into severe property damage, attempted severe property damage and serious disruption of telecommunications.
- The damage was detected on Elisa’s Helsinki–Tallinn link in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone, and Estonia reported an Arelion line was also affected, with Finnish and Estonian authorities coordinating and NATO and the EU engaged in information sharing.
- Officials have not assigned blame to a ‘shadow fleet’; Estonia’s prime minister said early indications suggest the ship is not part of it, while operators report services continued without customer impact due to automatic rerouting.