HELSINKI (Reuters) -The Georgian captain of an oil tanker that damaged undersea cables in the Baltic Sea in late 2024 denied any wrongdoing, describing the incident as “a marine accident” in an interview with Finland’s public broadcaster on Thursday.
Captain Davit Vadatchkoria and first and second officers of the Eagle S oil tanker face charges in Helsinki court next Monday over the cutting of power and telecommunications cables last December by dragging the vessel’s anchor some 90 km (56 miles) along the Gulf of Finland on its way west from a Russian oil port.
“We are innocent. It’s just a marine accident,” Captain Davit Vadatchkoria, who remains in Finland under travel ban, told YLE broadcaster, which posted excerpts of the interview on its website.
When asked how neither he nor the crew noticed the ship’s anchor was dragging, Vadatchkoria said the ship’s autopilot did not detect any unusual movements, vibrations or course changes that would trigger an alarm, YLE said.
Finnish authorities have said the Cook Islands-registered Eagle S broke the Estlink 2 undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia and four internet lines, causing the owners at least 60 million euros ($70 million) in damages.
The Georgian and Indian nationals were charged with aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference.
NATO allies around the Baltic Sea went on high alert following the incident and a string of other suspicious power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Finnish police’s special forces boarded the Eagle S from helicopters on Christmas Day after ordering its captain to steer from international to Finnish waters. Recounting the events, Vadatchkoria criticised the operation as excessive and compromising maritime safety.
“So aggressive like they catch some terrorists or something. Maybe 60 or 70 soldiers or police officers with guns, cameras, everything,” he told YLE.
The Finnish police declined to comment on Vadatchkoria’s criticism because the matter was now in court.
($1 = 0.8584 euros)
(Reporting by Anne Kauranen in HelsinkiEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
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