Finland’s Stubb Says More Subsea Cable Damage Is ‘Very Likely’

(Bloomberg) -- Finland expects to see more damage to undersea cables in the Baltic Sea after several incidents since late 2023, President Alexander Stubb said.

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Ship anchors have broken critical infrastructure on the seabed on at least four occasions in recent months with ongoing investigations focusing on intent to find out if the cause was sabotage, negligence, crew inexperience or an accident.

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“It’s very likely” that more similar cases will emerge, Stubb told reporters in Helsinki on Thursday, reiterating that in his view it’s more important to focus on prevention than on the perpetrator.

“It may not stop even if we were to find the culprit and point our finger at them,” Stubb said.

Last weekend, Sweden detained a vessel suspected of damaging a subsea data cable connecting it with Latvia, while Finland is investigating an oil tanker linked to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, suspected of severing undersea links with a loose anchor in December.

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