Tanker seized by Finland over ripped cables won't face cargo sanctions probe

HELSINKI (Reuters) -The Eagle S tanker seized by Finnish authorities on suspicion of ripping up subsea cables will not face a separate criminal investigation into whether its fuel cargo violates sanctions imposed on Russia, the Customs Office said on Thursday.

Police seized the UAE-owned tanker last month on suspicion of damaging a Finnish-Estonian power line and four telecoms cables.

The Customs Office believes the Eagle S is part of a shadow fleet of tankers used to circumvent sanctions on Russian oil, and has impounded its cargo of unleaded petrol and diesel.

"The cargo of the ship will remain detained by Finnish Customs for the time being," it said in a statement.

Police have said nine crew members are suspects in a criminal investigation into possible sabotage of the subsea cables.

The ship's cargo is subject to sanctions imposed against Russia by the European Union, and thus barred from importation into Finland. But because the vessel entered Finnish territorial waters at the request of Finnish authorities, the crew cannot be considered to have intentionally violated those sanctions, the Customs Office said.

A lawyer representing the ship's owner, United Arab Emirates-based Caravella LLC FZ, has said the ship's alleged damage to undersea equipment happened outside of Finland's territorial waters and therefore Helsinki lacked jurisdiction to intervene.

Baltic Sea nations are on high alert after a string of power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The NATO military alliance in response plans to boost its presence in the region.

(Reporting by Anne Kauranen; editing by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, Terje Solsvik and Jason Neely)