Oil tanker Eagle S near Porkkalanniemi, Kirkkonummi, in the Gulf of Finland, December 28, 2024. REUTERS/Lehtikuva/Jussi Nukari
The Helsinki court ruled that Finland does not have jurisdiction to criminally prosecute the captain and two aides of the oil tanker Eagle S over allegations of damaging underwater cables in the Baltic Sea, in the Gulf of Finland. The ruling was issued on October 3, 2025.
The prosecutor sought to convict Captain Davit Vadachkoriya and his aides Robert Egizaryan and Santos Kumaru Chaurasiyu to at least 2.5 years in prison without the possibility of early release.
During the trial, the shipowner Eagle S’s lawyer and the accused stressed the absence of Finnish jurisdiction in this case. The court affirmed the same position previously expressed.
The proceedings lasted from the end of August 2025; during this time several witnesses were heard and documentary evidence was presented. Finnish law enforcement had been conducting the investigation for about six months.
The court’s ruling notes that criminal jurisdiction over damages to cables in the Gulf of Finland lies either with the state under whose banner the tanker sails, or with the courts of the defendants’ countries of citizenship. The Finnish state is also to cover the sailors’ court costs amounting to about 195,000 euros.
Context and Timeline of Events
On December 25, 2024, the Finnish operator Fingrid reported damage to the Estlink 2 submarine cable, which connects Finland and Estonia.
The investigation was treated as vandalism under aggravating circumstances; the police considered the possibility of negligence. Currently the most likely version is that the cable was touched by the anchor of Eagle S, which is linked to the so-called Russian shadow fleet.
At the end of January 2025, the court arrested Eagle S on suspicion of damaging Estlink 2 and four other cables between the countries. On February 28, 2025, the arrest was lifted. Other damage to infrastructure in northern Europe included a break between Finland and Germany (November 18), a break between Lithuania and Sweden, and in early December – two new breaks on the line between Sweden and Finland, with damage on land in Espoo and Vihti.