Overview

• The Helsinki District Court threw out charges against the Eagle S captain and two officers, ruling Finnish criminal law could not be applied to damage that occurred in international waters.
• Judges found the anchor loss resulted from a failure of the securing mechanism and deemed the episode an incident of navigation under UNCLOS, placing jurisdiction with the Cook Islands or the defendants’ home countries.
• Prosecutors alleged the tanker dragged an 11,000-kilogram anchor for about 90 kilometers on December 25, 2024, severing the EstLink 2 power link and four telecom cables between Finland and Estonia.
• The court said the breaks caused economic losses but did not meet statutory thresholds for aggravated harm to Finland’s energy or communications supply, and it ordered the state to reimburse the defendants’ legal fees.
• The three men, who denied wrongdoing, had faced prison terms of at least 2.5 years, departed Finland after travel bans were lifted in September, and the case’s collapse highlights accountability gaps as NATO expands seabed security patrols.