Finnish security forces practice boarding and seizing ships in Baltic Sea

Officers from the coast guard, police, and ​armed forces boarded a vessel from a helicopter, secured the ​crew, and searched the ship room by room.

Coast Guard Commander Ilja Iljin said the exercise reflects what Finland considers “the new normal,” pointing to several recent incidents of critical underwater infrastructure sabotage in the Baltic Sea over the last few years.

Under the updated protocols, authorities can inspect a vessel if it exhibits unusual behavior while passing over underwater cables, such as a sharp reduction in speed or an unexpected change of course.

Separately, the Finnish government is seeking to expand the legal powers of its Border Guard, allowing authorities to intercept and inspect ships suspected of being stateless or falsely flagged. The proposed measures would also grant the power to counter unmanned underwater vehicles.

The field training portion of the European Union's MARSEC EU 26 maritime security exercise concluded in Finland on September 17. During the three-day drill, forces simulated an incident involving a suspicious vessel near critical underwater infrastructure, practicing tactical boarding, search, and seizure operations.

The Finnish Border Guard led the drills alongside European Union partners, focusing heavily on protecting subsea cables and pipelines from potential hybrid threats.

Helsinki has previously intercepted and detained vessels suspected of damaging underwater cables and pipelines in the Baltic Sea. However, direct Russian government involvement has not been officially proven in those cases, and Moscow routinely denies responsibility.