Baltic Sea cable damage: Finnish court drops case against Russian tanker crew

The Helsinki District Court has ruled that Finland does not have jurisdiction to prosecute the captain and two crew members of the Russian oil tanker Eagle S, who were accused of damaging underwater cables in the Baltic Sea, Caliber.Az reports via Finnish media.

Under the court’s 3 October decision, the Finnish state must cover the sailors’ legal costs, estimated at around €195,000. Prosecutors had sought a minimum sentence of 2.5 years in prison for Captain Davit Vadachkoria and his assistants, Robert Egizaryan and Santush Kumar Chaurasia.

During the trial, the defence, representing both the Eagle S owner and the accused crew, argued that Finland lacked legal authority in the matter. The district court upheld this position.

The case stems from an incident on 25 December when Finland reported damage to the Estlink 2 power cable connecting Finland and Estonia in the Baltic Sea. Subsequent reports indicated that two communication cables owned by Elisa and one by CITIC Telecom were also affected. The cause of the damage remains under investigation.

By Vugar Khalilov