Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on October 3, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
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A Finnish court dismissed charges against the Eagle S crew for a Baltic Sea cable breach, citing jurisdiction issues under maritime law.
(Adds dropped word 'court' in headline)
By Elviira Luoma
HELSINKI (Reuters) -A Finnish district court ruled on Friday that Finland does not have jurisdiction to prosecute the captain and two officers of the Eagle S oil tanker, who were accused of breaking undersea power and internet cables in the Baltic Sea last year.
The trial was among the first judicial attempts to punish suspected perpetrators for damaging critical underwater infrastructure, but the matter is complicated by provisions of international maritime law and the difficulty of proving criminal intent. The three denied the charges.
"The District Court has today issued a judgment dismissing the charge in the case... along with the claims for damages arising from the charge, as it was not possible to apply Finnish criminal law to the case," the court said in a statement.
NATO forces in the region went on high alert following the December 25 incident, one of a string of cable and gas pipeline outages in the Baltic Sea since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
(Reporting by Elviira Luoma and Anne Kauranen, editing by Essi Lehto, Terje Solsvik and Alex Richardson)
Jurisdiction refers to the official power of a legal body to make decisions and judgments regarding legal matters within a specific area or over certain types of cases.
International maritime law governs the rights and responsibilities of states in maritime environments, including shipping, navigation, and the protection of marine resources.
Critical infrastructure refers to the essential systems and assets that are vital for the functioning of a society and economy, such as power and communication networks.
Criminal intent refers to the mental state of a person at the time of committing a crime, indicating that they had the intention to commit the act.
Regional security refers to the measures taken by countries in a specific area to ensure the safety and stability of that region against threats.
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