The Finnish authorities said on Monday that they have charged the captain and two other crew members of an oil tanker on suspicion of sabotage in relation to the cutting of vital undersea cables.
The aging tanker, the Eagle S, was seized in late December by the Finnish authorities. They said at the time that the ship might belong to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet,” a group of older tankers that covertly transport Russian crude oil around the world, raising concerns about a potential covert campaign to sabotage European infrastructure. The tanker was released in March and escorted back into international waters, but Finnish officials said at the time that eight crew members remained under investigation on suspicion of criminal offenses.
On Monday, Finland’s National Prosecution Authority said in a statement that the ship’s captain, as well as the first and second officers, had been charged with “aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with communications” in relation to the episode.
The statement did not identify the three crew members, saying only that they had denied the accusations — which according to the authority appeared to involve dragging the ship’s anchor on the seabed for miles and severing five cables in the Gulf of Finland.