Ship seized in Finland suspected of cable damage was carrying sanctioned Russian steel

Countries in the Baltic Sea region have been on high alert following a string of incidents which saw undersea power cables, telecoms links and gas pipelines damaged.
A vessel seized in Finland suspected of damaging an undersea telecommunications cable between Helsinki and Tallinn was transporting Russian steel subject to European Union sanctions, Finnish customs officials said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Finnish police detained the Fitburg, a 132-metre-long cargo ship en route from St Petersburg in Russia to the Israeli port of Haifa.

Its 14 crew members were also detained following suspicion the ship's anchor had damaged the telecoms cable in the Gulf of Finland.

"Preliminary information indicated that the cargo consisted of steel products originating in Russia, which are subject to extensive sanctions imposed on Russia," Finnish Customs said in a statement.

The agency had carried out an inspection of the ship's cargo late on Wednesday.