Finnish police release Russia-linked ship held in cable sabotage case
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The vessel Fitburg, suspected of damaging subsea communication cables in the Gulf of Finland, at Kantvik harbour in Kirkkonummi, in this undated handout courtesy of Finnish Border. Finnish police on Wednesday seized a ship sailing from Russia on suspicion of sabotaging an undersea telecoms cable running from Helsinki to Estonia across the Gulf of Finland, an area hit by a string of similar incidents in recent years. The seized cargo vessel \"Fitburg\" was en route from the Russian port of St Petersburg to Israel at the time of the incident, Finland's Border Guard authority told a press conference in Helsinki. Finnish Border Guard/Handout via REUTERS
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COPENHAGEN, Jan 12 - Finnish police said on Monday they had lifted the seizure of a ship which had been held on suspicion of sabotaging an undersea telecoms cable running from Helsinki to Estonia across the Gulf of Finland, although the investigation continues.
The Baltic Sea region is on high alert after a string of power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and NATO has boosted its military presence with frigates, aircraft and naval drones.
Finland seized the Fitburg cargo ship on December 31 while en route from Russia to Israel, and detained one crew member as part of the investigation. The ship will leave Finland's territorial waters on Monday, police said in a statement.
"Finnish and Estonian police have completed their work on board the vessel, and the seizure can therefore be lifted," head of the investigation at Finland's National Bureau of Investigation, Risto Lohi, said in the statement.
Some of the ship's crew remain under a travel ban, he added. REUTERS
