Suspected sabotage in the Baltic Sea

Finland risks huge fine of hundreds of millions of kronor

Lawyer Herman Ljungberg, who has represented the three sailors in the cable breach case in the Baltic Sea, is relieved after the Helsinki District Court considers itself to lack jurisdiction to rule in the case. Ljungberg tells Swedish Yle that the damage took place in international waters, "period end", and that Finland has therefore never had jurisdiction to investigate the case with the ship Eagle S.

- Only the flag state, in this case the Cook Islands, has jurisdiction.

He describes the boarding as an "illegal hijacking" in international waters. The shipping company is now expected to return with very high claims for damages, especially since the unleaded gasoline on board the ship was damaged by the several-month delay.

- It could be damage of tens of millions of euros, he says.

All sailors acquitted after cable breach – district court disqualifies itself

The three sailors on the Eagle S who were charged with the cable breach in the Baltic Sea on Christmas Day last year are acquitted. The reason is that the Helsinki District Court considers that Finland lacks jurisdiction to judge the case.

Finnish media describe the decision as surprising and “extremely interesting”. The court has been handling the case since August. In the meantime, several witnesses have been heard and written evidence has been presented.

The ship is believed to be part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, writes Iltalehti. Prosecutors had demanded prison sentences of two years and two months for Captain Davit Vadatchko and his colleagues Robert Egizaryan and Santosh Kumar Chaurasia. All three have denied any wrongdoing. The Finnish state will now pay their legal costs of 195,000 euros.