Finland charges crew of Baltic tanker with ties to Russia over undersea cable damage

Finland has filed criminal charges against the top officers of a Baltic oil tanker over severe damage to undersea cables in December 2024 — one of several energy and telecommunications disruptions in the region that European officials have linked to suspected sabotage.

The National Prosecution Authority in Helsinki indicted the captain and two first officers of the Eagle S, a Cook Islands-registered tanker believed to be part of a "shadow fleet" transporting Russian oil in violation of international sanctions.

Prosecutors accuse the three officers of aggravated criminal mischief for allegedly dragging the ship’s anchor more than 90 kilometers across the Gulf of Finland on Dec. 25, severing five electricity and telecom cables and causing nearly $70 million in damages.

"The disruption of electricity transmission and telecommunications cables with very high transmission capacity is also suspected to have caused a serious risk to energy supply and telecommunications in Finland," prosecutors said in a statement on Aug. 11.

The mariners, reportedly Georgian and Indian nationals, were not named. Finland has not directly accused Russia of involvement, but officials noted the Eagle S had just departed from a Russian port carrying oil products.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said weeks after the incident that it was "definitely" linked to Russia, and officials suspected from the outset that it bore "Kremlin fingerprints." The vessel was seized immediately after the damage occurred.

The incident was one of several cases of undersea infrastructure damage in the Baltic since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In October 2023, the Hong Kong-registered Newnew Polar Bear ruptured a gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, while the Chinese-flagged Yi Peng 3 severed two data cables off Sweden in November.

While some European officials believe such incidents may be part of a coordinated Russian sabotage campaign, Western intelligence agencies — including the CIA and counterparts in Nordic and Baltic countries — have cautioned that many of the cases may have been accidental, caused by poorly maintained ships and inadequately trained crews.

In pursuing the case, Finnish authorities aim to hold shadow fleet operators accountable without formally attributing the damage to Moscow.

Pekka Toveri, a former head of Finland’s military intelligence and now a member of the European Parliament, told the Washington Post that imposing severe penalties is key to deterring anyone from taking part in such acts of sabotage. He added that he still suspects Russia’s involvement, noting that future ship captains might think twice before following orders to drop an anchor on undersea cables or pipelines.

The damage linked to the Eagle S occurred amid a broader pattern of suspected Russian operations across Europe, including an alleged assassination plot targeting a German arms executive and arson attacks in Poland, Lithuania, England, and other countries.

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