Latest news with #Cinia
The Guardian
11-08-2025
- The Guardian
Finland accuses tanker crew members of using anchor to sabotage undersea cables
Finnish authorities have filed charges against members of the crew of an oil tanker suspected of damaging five undersea cables by dragging its anchor between Finland and Estonia. Finland's deputy prosecutor general's office said on Monday it had filed charges of aggravated sabotage and aggravated interference with telecommunications against the captain and first and second officers of the Eagle S. The Cook Islands-registered tanker is understood to be part of Russia's 'shadow fleet' – comprising vessels that sail under foreign flags to evade sanctions. The ship was carrying oil from Ust-Luga in Russia across the Gulf of Finland when, prosecutors allege, it dragged its anchor along the seabed for about 90km (56 miles) in December 2024. The incident was one of several suspected hybrid attacks on telecommunications services in the Nordic region at the end of last year, putting leaders on high alert and prompting accusations of infrastructure sabotage against Russia. Finnish authorities seized the Eagle S on 26 December last year when the border guard's emergency response team and police landed on the ship in the early hours of the morning. The seizure was lifted in February and the ship left Finland the following month. Damage to the cables had cost their owners, Cinia and Elisa, 'at least €60m in repair costs alone', the office of the deputy prosecutor general, Jukka Rappe, said in a statement. It added: 'The rupture of the extremely high-capacity electricity transmission and telecommunications cables is also suspected of having caused a serious danger to energy supply and telecommunications in Finland, although services have been secured by using alternative connections.' The defendants, it said, had denied any wrongdoing in the preliminary investigation. They believed that Finland 'does not have jurisdiction in the matter because the cable damage sites are outside Finnish territorial waters', the statement said. A lawyer for the United Arab Emirates-based Caravella LLC FZ, the owner of the Eagle S, has said previously that Helsinki lacked jurisdiction to intervene. Rappe disagreed, saying: 'The characteristics of the crimes,ie the dangers caused, occurred within the borders of Finland, even though the measures themselves were taken outside Finland.' He told the Guardian that the question of jurisdiction was 'one of the critical questions', but that 'the effects of the crime materialised here in Finland. That brings it to the jurisdiction of Finland, I think. But of course it is up to [the] district court to decide whether Finland has jurisdiction or not.' He said he hoped the trial would have an impact on investigations into other alleged cable-cutting incidents in the region over the last two years. Because of its geographical positioning, between Russia and the Baltic, Finland is particularly vulnerable. 'Finland is like an island because of the Baltic sea. All of our connections go via undersea cables to Sweden, Estonia and central Europe,' said Rappe. The indictment has been filed with the Helsinki district court, which will decide on a date for the hearing. The state prosecutor, special prosecutor and regional prosecutor have been assigned to prosecute the charges in court. The three suspects have been under a travel ban in Finland since the start of the investigation. Cinia has been contacted for comment. Elisa declined to comment.
Japan Times
25-02-2025
- Japan Times
Damage to Baltic Sea telecoms cable may have occurred in January
STOCKHOLM – Finland's telecoms operator said on Monday that the damage reported last week to its C-Lion1 telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea may have occurred as early as Jan. 26, the same day a cargo ship broke another undersea cable in the area. Swedish and Finnish police said on Friday they were investigating a suspected case of sabotage of the C-Lion1 cable running along the seabed from Finland to Germany, while adding it was not immediately clear when the damage had occurred. The Baltic Sea region is on alert and the NATO alliance has boosted its presence after a series of power cable, telecom and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Most have been caused by civilian ships dragging their anchors. Operator Cinia said in an emailed statement on Monday that it believed the damage of the C-Lion1 had occurred on Jan. 26 at 2:37 a.m. Finnish time (00:37 GMT) and that the cause was still unknown. The time closely coincides with that of an outage of a nearby subsea fiber-optic cable linking Sweden and Latvia, which was reported at the time. A Swedish prosecutor said on Feb. 3 he had concluded that a Maltese-flagged bulk carrier, the Vezhen, had ruptured the cable linking Sweden and Latvia with its anchor, but that it had been an accident and not sabotage. The Vezhen passed the Sweden-Latvia cable at 0045 GMT on Jan. 26, MarineTraffic data showed. Swedish police did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted on Monday. Bulgarian shipping company Navigation Maritime Bulgare, which lists the Vezhen among its fleet, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Globe and Mail
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Damage to Baltic Sea telecoms cable may have occurred in January, Finland's operator says
Finland's telecoms operator said on Monday that the damage reported last week to its C-Lion1 telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea may have occurred as early as Jan. 26, the same day a cargo ship broke another undersea cable in the area. Swedish and Finnish police said on Friday they were investigating a suspected case of sabotage of the C-Lion1 cable running along the seabed from Finland to Germany, while adding it was not immediately clear when the damage had occurred. The Baltic Sea region is on alert and the NATO alliance has boosted its presence after a series of power cable, telecom and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Most have been caused by civilian ships dragging their anchors. Operator Cinia said in an emailed statement on Monday that it believed the damage of the C-Lion1 had occurred on January 26 at 0237 a.m. Finnish time (0037 GMT) and that the cause was still unknown. The time closely coincides with that of an outage of a nearby subsea fibre optic cable linking Sweden and Latvia, which was reported at the time. A Swedish prosecutor said on February 3 he had concluded that a Maltese-flagged bulk carrier, the Vezhen, had ruptured the cable linking Sweden and Latvia with its anchor, but that it had been an accident and not sabotage. The Vezhen passed the Sweden-Latvia cable at 0045 GMT on Jan. 26, MarineTraffic data analyzed by Reuters showed. Swedish police did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by Reuters on Monday. Bulgarian shipping company Navigation Maritime Bulgare, which lists the Vezhen among its fleet, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Reuters
24-02-2025
- General
- Reuters
Damage to Baltic Sea telecoms cable may have occurred in January, operator says
Summary Companies Police launched investigation of cable damage on Friday Operator says damage may have occurred on January 26 Coincides with a previous breach that was ruled accidental Vessels dragging anchors have damaged infrastructure STOCKHOLM, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Finland's telecoms operator said on Monday that the damage reported last week to its C-Lion1 telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea may have occurred as early as January 26, the same day a cargo ship broke another undersea cable in the area. Swedish and Finnish police said on Friday they were investigating a suspected case of sabotage of the C-Lion1 cable running along the seabed from Finland to Germany, while adding it was not immediately clear when the damage had occurred. The Baltic Sea region is on alert and the NATO alliance has boosted its presence after a series of power cable, telecom and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Most have been caused by civilian ships dragging their anchors. Operator Cinia said in an emailed statement on Monday that it believed the damage of the C-Lion1 had occurred on January 26 at 0237 a.m. Finnish time (0037 GMT) and that the cause was still unknown. The time closely coincides with that of an outage of a nearby subsea fibre optic cable linking Sweden and Latvia, which was reported at the time. A Swedish prosecutor said on February 3 he had concluded that a Maltese-flagged bulk carrier, the Vezhen, had ruptured the cable linking Sweden and Latvia with its anchor, but that it had been an accident and not sabotage. The Vezhen passed the Sweden-Latvia cable at 0045 GMT on January 26, MarineTraffic data analysed by Reuters showed. Swedish police did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by Reuters on Monday. Bulgarian shipping company Navigation Maritime Bulgare, which lists the Vezhen among its fleet, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Al Jazeera
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Finland, Sweden probe suspected sabotage of undersea telecoms cable
Swedish and Finnish police are investigating a suspected case of sabotage to the telecom system in the Baltic Sea, after multiple seabed cables were damaged in recent months. Finnish operator Cinia on Friday said it had detected problems on its C-Lion1 fibre-optic link connecting Finland and Germany some time ago and that it was confirmed this week that the cable was damaged even as data traffic continued to flow. Swedish police said they were also investigating the matter because the breach had occurred in Sweden's economic zone, although no suspects had been identified. 'We take all reports of possible damage to infrastructure in the Baltic Sea very seriously,' Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 'As I said earlier, they must be seen in the context of the serious security situation that exists.' The Baltic Sea region is on alert and the NATO military alliance has boosted its presence there after a series of power cable, telecom and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Some Baltic Sea incidents have been ruled accidental, including the cutting last month of a different telecom cable in Swedish waters, while other cases are still under police investigation. No prosecutions have been made so far. Friday's announcement marks the third time in recent months that Cinia's C-Lion1 cable has been damaged, after it was completely severed in November and December last year. The fibre optic cable runs for 1,173 kilometres (728 miles) between Finland's capital, Helsinki, and the northern German city of Rostock. It connects Central European telecommunications networks with Finland and other Nordic countries. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo called for a calm and thorough investigation into the incident, saying it was reassuring there had been no apparent disruption to telecommunications connections. EU to boost undersea surveillance The European Commission on Friday said it would redirect almost a billion euros within its budget to boost surveillance of undersea cables and establish a fleet of emergency repair vessels. 'We want to make sure Europe is equipped not only to prevent and detect sabotage to cables but also to actively deter, repair and respond to any threat to critical infrastructure,' Henna Virkkunen, the executive vice president in charge of security at the Commission, said. 'We know that this is a threat for our security and for our environment, not only in the Baltic Sea area, but all over the European Union.'
