Eagle S captain charged over Baltic Sea cable damage
Vessel Eagle S may have damaged cables in the Baltic Sea (photo: marinetraffic.com)
Finnish law enforcement has charged the captain and crew of the vessel Eagle S in a case involving damage to undersea cables in the Baltic Sea, Politico reports.
The captain and two crew members of the oil tanker Eagle S are accused of damaging and interfering with communications equipment. Since the start of the investigation, they have been prohibited from leaving Finland.
Finnish prosecutors said the accused deny the charges and believe that Helsinki has no right to pursue the case, as the damaged cables are located outside the country's territorial waters.
These charges are the latest stage of an investigation during which the vessel Eagle S was detained. It is considered the main suspect in the December 2024 incident in which four undersea cables were damaged and the operation of another was disrupted in the Gulf of Finland.
Baltic Sea cable damage
Last year, undersea communication cables between Finland and Estonia in the Baltic Sea were damaged. Following this, Finnish authorities detained the vessel Eagle S, which may be linked to Russia's shadow fleet.
The vessel may have been involved in the damage to the undersea cables.
In January, the head of the investigation, Risto Lohi, stated that the crew of the Eagle S planned to damage other undersea cables in the Baltic Sea.
