Finnish police announced on Monday that they have lifted the seizure of the Fitburg cargo ship, which was held on suspicion of sabotaging an undersea telecoms cable between Helsinki and Estonia. The investigation, however, remains ongoing. The Baltic Sea region is on high alert following multiple outages of power cables, telecom links, and gas pipelines since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In response, NATO has increased its military presence in the area.
The Fitburg was seized on December 31 while traveling from Russia to Israel, and one crew member was detained during the investigation. Police confirmed that the ship would leave Finland’s territorial waters on Monday. Risto Lohi, head of the investigation at Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, stated that Finnish and Estonian police have completed their work aboard the vessel, allowing for the seizure to be lifted.
Despite the lifting of the seizure, some crew members are still subject to a travel ban. The situation underscores ongoing tensions in the region and the heightened security measures in place.
