The captain and two officers of an oil tanker accused of severing five undersea power and telecoms cables when their vessel left Russia and sailed through the Gulf of Finland in late 2024 will stand trial in Helsinki on Monday.
Investigators have concluded that the Eagle S dragged its anchor along the seabed, severing the Estlink 2 power cable connecting Finland and Estonia, and four internet lines, leading Finnish security forces to interrupt the vessel's journey and board it from helicopters after ordering it to move into Finnish territorial waters.
The three defendants have denied all charges, and the captain told Finnish public broadcaster YLE the incident was "a marine accident".
NATO allies around the Baltic Sea went on high alert following the incident, one of a string of suspicious cable and gas pipeline outages in the region since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Finnish prosecutors this month charged the Cook Islands-registered tanker's Georgian captain and Indian first and second officers with aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with telecommunications.
The maximum sentence for aggravated criminal mischief is 10 years in prison, while aggravated interference with telecommunications carries a term of up to five years.
Prosecutors say the damage caused serious risks to energy supply and telecommunications in Finland, and that repair costs total at least €60 million ($70 million).
The defendants argue that Finland lacks jurisdiction in the case as the cables were damaged outside Finnish territorial waters, and the court has said it will also consider this claim.
Finnish authorities detained the Eagle S after the cables were severed and released it again in March, while upholding a travel ban on the three now facing trial.
A lawyer for United Arab Emirates-based Caravella LLC FZ, the owner of the Eagle S, has also said Helsinki lacks jurisdiction to intervene in the case.
Last week, a Ukrainian was arrested over the 2022 attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. Both Moscow and the West have described the explosions, which largely severed Russian gas supplies to Europe, as sabotage.
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Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed, according to the latest data, as uncertainty over the waterway’s reopening kept most shipowners away. Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, down from nine the day before and below the 10-day daily average of 11.
Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. fulfils the terms of an interim deal, including lifting the maritime blockade and sanctions and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 19th of August, covering the latest developments.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
Australia on Thursday condemned Israel’s decision to close its criminal investigation into the deaths of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six World Central Kitchen colleagues killed in Gaza in April 2024.
North Korea has fired more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles after U.S. President Donald Trump reduced American participation in joint military exercises with South Korea in an effort to revive dialogue with Pyongyang.
Georgia’s foreign trade data for January-July 2026 shows Kyrgyzstan, China and Russia as its top three export markets, highlighting its Middle Corridor ambitions and complex economic ties with Moscow.
Kazakhstan will vote on 23 August in its first parliamentary election under the new Constitution, choosing 145 members of the new Kurultai under a fundamentally changed electoral system based entirely on party lists.
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