The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Wednesday seized the cargo vessel Fitburg, which is suspected of damaging a subsea telecommunications cable in the Baltic Sea, said NBI in a press release. The decision to seize the vessel was made to secure the measures necessary for the criminal investigation and the seizure took place in the morning at 8:00 a.m. For the purposes of the investigation, forensic examinations are being conducted on the vessel, and the crew members are being interviewed, making the seizure essential at this stage, said NBI. The Fitburg is suspected of damaging the undersea telecommunications cable owned by Elisa in the Gulf of Finland. The vessel was stopped and instructed to move to Finnish territorial waters to clarify the situation. Meanwhile, Finnish Customs completed the preliminary inquiry into a possible violation of sanctions by the Fitburg, suspected of involvement in a cable damage incident, said Customs in a press release. The purpose of the preliminary inquiry was to determine whether there is reason to suspect that the crew of the Fitburg was guilty of an aggravated sanctions violation by bringing sanctioned steel products into Finnish territorial waters. According to what has been established by Customs, the steel products carried by the vessel are classified as products subject to the sanctions against Russia. The interviews carried out during the preliminary inquiry show that the vessel had entered Finnish territorial waters at the request of Finnish authorities, so the crew cannot be considered to have intentionally brought the steel products to Finnish territorial waters, thereby violating the sanctions legislation. For this reason, Customs will not initiate a criminal investigation into the matter. The Deputy Prosecutor General has also been consulted in the matter. The Helsinki District Court on January 4 ordered a crew member of the vessel Fitburg to be placed in pre-trial detention. Earlier on January 3, the police sought pre-trial detention of a crew member of the cargo vessel Fitburgover the suspected damage of telecommunications cable in the Gulf of Finland on December 31, 2025. On January 2, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has setup a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) with Estoniato probe into the suspected damage of telecommunications cable. Earlier on January 1, the police arrested two individuals of the cargo vessel Fitburgand imposed travel ban on two other persons. Finnish authorities detained the freighter Fitburg on suspicion of damaging undersea data cables in the Gulf of Finland early December 31, 2025.