Finland has filed charges against members of the Eagle S oil tanker, which is suspected of damaging five undersea cables by dragging its anchor between Finland and Estonia.

The incident happened in December in the Gulf of Finland, when several cables were cut between the two countries.

Finnish authorities seized the tanker on December 26.

The country's deputy prosecutor general’s office said yesterday (August 11) that it has filed charges of aggravated sabotage and aggravated interference with telecommunications. The charges have been filed against the captain, first, and second officers of the tanker.

The Eagle S tanker is registered to the Cook Islands and is thought to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet," which consists of vessels that sail under foreign flags to evade sanctions, reports The Guardian.

It's alleged that the tanker dragged its anchor along the seabed for about 90km (56 miles) in December.

On December 25, the Estlink 2 submarine cable - which carries electricity between Finland and Estonia - was cut.

Around the same time, three Internet cables connecting the two nations were severed - two of which are owned by Finnish operator Elisa and another owned by China’s Citic.

A fourth fiber optic cable running between Finland and Germany from Finnish group Cinia is also thought to have been cut.

€60 million in damage, at least

It's estimated that the damage to the cables has cost Cinia and Elisa, the owners of the cables, “at least €60 million ($70m) in repair costs alone,” noted the office of the deputy prosecutor general, Jukka Rappe, in a statement.

“The rupture of the extremely high-capacity electricity transmission and telecommunications cables is also suspected of having caused a serious danger to energy supply and telecommunications in Finland, although services have been secured by using alternative connections," said Rappe.

Reuters has separately reported that those charged are Georgian and Indian nationals. The suspects have denied any wrongdoing.

Rappe wants the trial to have an impact on investigations into other alleged cable-cutting incidents in the region over the last two years. “Finland is like an island because of the Baltic Sea. All of our connections go via undersea cables to Sweden, Estonia, and central Europe,” said Rappe.

Charges have been filed with the Helsinki district court, which is to decide a date for the hearing to take place.

All three suspects have been placed under a travel ban in Finland since the investigation began.

The incident in December came just a month after a ship was suspected of deliberately dragging an anchor 111 miles along the seabed and severing two subsea cables in the Baltic Sea. That ship was also boarded, and investigations are ongoing.

Earlier in December, a terrestrial Internet cable connecting Sweden and Finland was cut in two separate locations.