A Helsinki court ruled Friday that it didn’t have jurisdiction over damage to undersea power and data cables in the Gulf of Finland allegedly caused by the captain and two officers of the Russia-linked oil tanker Eagle S.
“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.
Finland had filed criminal charges in August against Captain Davit Vadatchkoria and officers Robert Egizaryan and Santosh Kumar Chaurasia of the suspected shadow fleet ship Eagle S sailing under the flag of the Cook Islands, accusing them of damaging five telecom cables in the Gulf of Finland last December with the vessel’s anchor.
Prosecutors sought prison terms of more than two years, warning the incident could have sparked blackouts and power price spikes.
