Undersea cable cutting shenanigans lead Finland to create a dedicated maritime surveillance center — Russian shadow fleet operations heighten concerns in the Baltic Sea
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Undersea telecoms cable accidents (or "accidents") are getting a bit too commonplace these days. Any such incident merits exceedingly serious analysis, as one bad slice can cut off entire countries from the internet. That's definitely the line of thinking of Finland, which is now creating a new maritime surveillance center for the sole purpose of watching over the Baltic Sea.
The Nordic country has particularly good reason to do so, as there were at least seven major incidents with sea vessels taking out infrastructure since 2023. The initiative is being arranged in cooperation with other countries' coastlines on the Baltic Sea, as well as the European Commission (EC). This development is also a fruit of the EC's proposition last February to secure the region's submarine cables.
According to Mikko Hirvi from the Finnish Border Guard, the new preventive measures include seabed sensors, AI-infused real-time analysis of maritime traffic, and improved exchange of vessel information with allies. These features will be subject to a gradual buildout, adding to the Border Guards' existing abilities. Naturally, there's no word on which are already operational.
The frequency of incidents around Finland's coast is troublesome enough, but their suspicious nature is arguably of greater concern. For example, on Christmas 2024 an oil tanker dragged a cable for more than 66 miles (106 km), not stopping until Finnish special forces boarded the boat.
Besides the geopolitical context around the Russo-Ukrainian war, Russia's apparent use of a shadow fleet of oil tankers has also raised eyebrows. Those ships are allegedly registered under a large number of "convenience flags," including but not limited to Gabon, Cameroon, Palau, Cook Islands, Panama, and the Marshall Islands, all nations with no historic connection to the Baltic Sea.
The region is one of the busiest in the world for ship transit on its own, and its location offers two particular challenges: first, it's one of the world's busiest locations for ferry traffic to the tune of 9.4 million heads a year. Those ships cross-use North-South routes and cross with East-West routes carrying mostly cargo.
Secondly, it's Russia's only direct access to the Atlantic, namely from St. Petersburg, one of the region's major ports. The combination means that the region sees a fair number of ships in many different routes, from multiple flags, all navigating a stretch that's made trickier in winter when ice freezes a portion.
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The incidents involving undersea cables around Finland can't seem to cease, with the latest one a mere few weeks ago on the morning of December 31, 2025. A ship called the Fitburg, travelling from St. Petersburg in Russia to Haifa in Israel, somehow rolled a 1 and had a spot of bad luck, taking out a cable connecting Finland to Estonia. The Fitburg was travelling under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a tiny nation from across the world off the coast of Venezuela.
A ship called the Fitburg, travelling from St. Petersburg in Russia to Haifa in Israel, somehow rolled a 1 and had a spot of bad luck, taking out a cable connecting Finland to Estonia.
