Estonian Navy Commander Ivo Värk said it was agreed that Finland would take the lead in detaining the ship that is suspected of damaging undersea communication cables because Estonia lacked the necessary capabilities.
Telecom company Elisa reported damage to a cable between Tallinn and Helsinki at 4:53 a.m. on Wednesday, New Year’s Eve, in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone, which sparked an operation to seize a cargo ship.
While the vessel, the Fitburg, was initially in Estonian waters, the detention took place on the Finnish side. At 11:05 a.m., Finnish special forces descended onto the ship from navy and border guard helicopters.
Värk said the Estonian Navy cooperated with the Finnish authorities.
“It was agreed that since a Finnish vessel was present at the scene, they would take over handling this specific incident. The weather conditions were relatively difficult, and our ship was not capable of operating in the middle of the Gulf of Finland,” the commander said.
The cable was damaged approximately 60 kilometers off the Estonian coast, near the edge of Finland’s exclusive economic zone.
Ivo Värk Source: ERR
Prosecutor General Astrid Asi said: “It was very close to Finland’s economic zone, and by the time it was possible to determine that the damage had likely been caused by a vessel and the situation allowed for a response, the ship was already in Finland’s economic zone.”
Värk said sanctioned vessels are under special surveillance by the navy, and the Fitburg was not among them.
“We received the information at the same time the cable operators reported a service disruption after the incident had occurred. After the incident, it was possible to quickly link the ship’s movement with the crossing of that specific cable, which made it possible to identify the suspect vessel fairly quickly,” Värk said.
The Office of the Prosecutor General launched a criminal investigation on Thursday to examine the damage to two communication cables between Estonia and Finland.
The Ministry of Justice said two cables close together were damaged on Wednesday. Finland is investigating the damage to one cable, owned by telecoms company Elisa, while Estonia is investigating damage to two cables.
“At the moment, we are preparing the documentation to form a joint investigation team with Finland, and as soon as that is completed, investigators from the Central Criminal Police will head to Finland to carry out investigative procedures. At the same time, the Central Criminal Police will continue investigative actions in Estonia,” Asi said.
Astrid Asi. Source: Siim Lõvi /ERR
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