Tow tracks have been found dozens of kilometers from the ship "Fitburg", which is believed to have damaged a cable between Helsinki and Tallinn. This was announced by Finnish police on Sunday.
It was on December 31 that the ship, which had sailed from Saint Petersburg in Russia, damaged a data communication cable between the Finnish and Estonian capitals.
According to Finnish police, the tow tracks give rise to suspicion that the anchor was dragged behind the ship before it hit the place where the cable was damaged.
The police do not describe exactly how far the anchor is believed to have been dragged. But in Swedish, a tow track is described as "tens of kilometers" long. That is, of a length that can be counted in tens. According to police, the track seems to correspond to the ship's route.
A crew member from Azerbaijan was taken into custody on Sunday. It is not known how he stands in the case. A Russian crew member has been subject to a travel ban, which two other people in the 14-man crew have also previously been subject to. This is reported by the AFP news agency.
The police are investigating the incidents and suspect gross vandalism, attempted gross vandalism and gross disruption of postal and telecommunications traffic.
"Fitburg" is a 132-meter-long cargo ship. Its crew members come from Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. It was heading towards Haifa in Israel.
Several incidents in the Baltic Sea
There have been several incidents in the Baltic Sea in recent years, where energy and communication infrastructure have been destroyed.
After the many incidents with cable breaks on the seabed, the NATO operation "Baltic Sentry" was launched in January last year.
The name of the operation can be translated as "Baltic Guardian".
As part of "Baltic Sentry", ships, aircraft and drones monitor the Baltic Sea to counteract cable breaks, which have been linked to Russia's shadow fleet.
The Russian shadow fleet, which has been linked to cable breaks several times, is described by the UN Maritime Organization as ships with insufficient insurance contracts that circumvent sanctions and avoid controls.
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