The captain and two crew members on the Eagle S tanker ship were accused of cutting five undersea power and telecommunications cables while traveling from Russia through the Gulf of Finland.
Finnish prosecutors allege that the Eagle S tanker deliberately pulled its anchor to the seabed to cut the Estlink 2 power cable connecting Finland and Estonia, as well as four Internet cables last Christmas.
Finnish security forces blocked the ship and boarded it in a helicopter after ordering it to move into the country's waters.
The three defendants pleaded not guilty in court, denied all allegations and rejected the cable owners' request for compensation of tens of millions of euros for damages.
Finnish prosecutors are proposing a 2.5-year prison sentence for Gzuria captain Davit Vadatchkoria, Ukrainian sailor Robert Egizaryan and Ukrainian sailor Santosh Kumar Chaurasia for serious property destruction and telecommunications disruption.
Captain Vadatchkoria's lawyer Tommi Heinonen called the cable break in the Baltic Sea a maritime accident. The anchor of an oil tanker registered in the Cook Islands fell due to a technical error during the anchor lifting process.
Finnish prosecutors said that on December 25, 2024, after cutting the first power cable at 12:36, the Eagle S moved at a slower pace for 3 hours.
When contacted by the Finnish maritime authorities at 5:20 p.m. and asked if the ship's anchor had been pulled up and fixed, the crew replied that the anchor had been fixed.
However, Finnish prosecutors stressed that the information was incorrect.
The defense attorney said that the Eagle S crew had no reason to believe the anchor fell to the seabed because the oil tanker's mechanical engineer, who was not prosecuted, told the defendants that the speed of the ship was due to an engine failure.
The Finnish prosecutor accused the Eagle S of continuing its journey and cutting four more cables between 6pm and 7pm on December 25, saying the move clearly showed the intention to commit a crime.
The maximum sentence for serious property destruction in Finland is 10 years in prison, while the maximum sentence for serious telecommunications harassment can be up to 5 years in prison.
Prosecutors said that the sabotage of cables poses a serious danger to energy and telecommunications supplies in Finland. The repair cost is at least 60 million euros.
