The Estlink 2 power cable went offline on Christmas Day 2024, with authorities in both countries suspecting the dragging anchor of the tanker, the Eagle S, damaged both Estlink 2 and several other undersea cables.

The Cook Islands-flagged Eagle S itself is suspected of forming a part of Russia's sanctions-dodging "shadow fleet," and the vessel's captain, Georgian national Davit Vadatchkoria, faces several charges at the trial starting on Monday in Helsinki.

These include aggravated sabotage and aggravated telecommunications interference, and the first and second officers of the Eagle S are also facing charges.

Finnish prosecutors say the damage was intentional, a claim which Vadatchkoria rejects.

Speaking publicly for the first time on the episode, Vadatchkoria, who is staying in Helsinki on a travel ban, told Yle his crew had not noticed the anchor dragging along the seabed and that any damage was "just a marine accident" and that he and his crew "are innocent."

Vadatchkoria claims Finnish authorities were aware of the Eagle S dragging its anchor as early as just after 3 p.m. on the day of the incident, waiting until late in the evening to carry out a special ops-style boarding operation.

"They could have told us to raise the anchor, but instead, they tracked our route for hours without stepping in," he told Yle.

Vadatchkoria said the Finnish authorities "had no reason to be so aggressive," and described the operation as if it were "catching some terrorist or something." Vadatchkoria said he and his crew followed all instructions during the operation, even as, he claimed, since the Eagle S was in international waters, the Finnish coast guard only had limited powers.

He also expressed concerns over the personnel who took over the ship being both armed and lacking experience in maritime ops.

"The [Finnish coast guard vessel] Turva was armed. Why would I have risked my crew, my ship, and my cargo? I had no reason to try to escape," he went on, adding that the tanker was carrying a full load of oil, meaning extra precautions should be taken.

"It was a serious breach of maritime safety," he said of the operation, rejecting claims the Eagle S forms part of the Russian shadow fleet as "b*llsh*t."

The officials who boarded the Eagle S confiscated electronic devices, computers, cameras, and phones as evidence.

Yle reports the trial starting Monday at the Helsinki district court will revolve around the question of whether the Eagle S crew should have noticed that the ship's anchor had been dragging behind the vessel for 90 kilometers, or not. The prosecution says yes, they should; the captain said that severe weather conditions hampered this.

Vadatchkoria also said the court must first determine whether he and his co-defendants can even be prosecuted in Finland, since the incident occurred outside Finnish territorial waters. He also said the case file contains no evidence to support claims of intentional misconduct, and no Russian espionage equipment was discovered aboard the Eagle S.

At the same time, he said he "trusts the Finnish court."

Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) declined to comment on the captain's allegations.

The damage to Estlink 2 put the cable out of action until June. The incident was one of several to have hit undersea infrastructure due to suspected trailing anchors from large vessels in the Gulf of Finland and the wider Baltic.

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