Comments by "peabase" (@peabase) on "Police in Finland move ship suspected of undersea cable damage closer to port" video.

Believe it or not, but seizing a ship in international waters can be construed as piracy. According to Maritime Law, the authorities of the diminutive Cook Islands, halfway around the world, should've done the honours(!). It'll be interesting to see if and how the Cook Islanders prosecute those responsible. Maybe they'll think twice about being a flag of convenience.
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@Abiodun92 Eagle S was in international waters when it allegedly damaged Estlink 2. It makes a world of difference from a legal perspective. Finland got lucky when the master of Eagle S complied with demands to sail the ship to Finnish waters, where it could be seized. The ship could have simply continued its journey. Forcing a creaky old tanker full of crude oil could've led to an ecocatastrophe. I'm sure embittered Putin would've loved that.
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@CorporalCookie It's not as simple as you make it seem. Seizing a ship in international waters without clear proof of sabotage carries a substantial legal risk. I mean, if Putin sneakily were to send a ship over crucial undersea infrastructure with its anchor chain -- but not the anchor -- dangling from it and it was seized on suspicion of performing sabotage, it would amount to piracy from a legal point of view -- perpetrated by Finland. Russia may have said its goodbyes to the rule-based world order, but we haven't.
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@CorporalCookie Again, the "COULD" part is a very iffy in your argument. As I tried to explain, it's wraught with difficulties. It's like you were to make a citizen's arrest, only to end up in court yourself, accused of unlawful restraint, because your suspicions proved false. With their powers, the police can get away with it, but you as a mere citizen cannot. It's all about jurisdiction, or rather, the lack of it. The Finnish authorities lack jurisdiction in international waters.
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@user-zz8lb6bd7p It was in international waters, too. What gave you the idea it wasn't?
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@arisplugis5197 Maritime Law allows for a vessel to be seized in international waters if it engages in piracy. Damaging property may conceivably come under piracy, but it's hard to ascertain, especially in these anchor-dragging cases. If Somali pirates attack shipping around the Horn of Africa, there will be distress calls, but subsea cable-cutting isn't that obvious. It's similar to making a citizen's arrest. Unless there's an in flagrante delicto situation, the arresting citizen could be accused of kidnapping or unlawful restraint. It's because as mere citizens, we don't have the same powers as the police. The same is true for our authorities in international waters.
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Not all cables are created equal.
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@VladimirStepanov-e6h You make precious little sense.
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