A metal object found floating in a shipping channel off Helsinki delayed passenger ship traffic for several hours on Saturday after police and maritime authorities closed the area while trying to establish what it was.
The object was discovered south of Kustaanmiekka, near the Suomenlinna sea fortress, in a channel used by passenger vessels travelling between Helsinki and the open sea. The Finnish Border Guard alerted police at 19:20 after the object was reported.
Because the object was unidentified and floating in an active shipping route, police and the Gulf of Finland Coast Guard treated it as a potential safety risk. The surrounding sea area was closed while authorities investigated, temporarily preventing passenger ships from using the channel.
Police also requested assistance from the Finnish Navy because the object could not initially be identified. The Navy’s first assessment later determined that it was not an explosive.
The object was described as funnel-shaped, heavy and approximately 40 centimetres across. Authorities eventually transported it to Santahamina and handed it over to the Finnish Defence Forces for further assessment.
The Navy concluded that the object was most likely a mechanical component from an old shipwreck. Police said there was no indication that a crime had been committed and ended the investigation after determining that the object posed no danger.
According to Yle, a fisherman was the first to notice the object before authorities were contacted. Police later released a photograph showing the rusted piece after the investigation had been concluded.
The incident nevertheless caused a significant disruption to evening maritime traffic around Kustaanmiekka. The closed area includes routes used by vessels serving Helsinki’s South Harbour, including the Katajanokka and Olympic Terminal areas.
Among the vessels affected was Viking XPRS, which was scheduled to leave Helsinki for Tallinn at around 20:00 on Saturday. Ilta-Sanomat first reported the delay after speaking to a passenger on board.
The ferry eventually left Helsinki at about 02:00 on Sunday, according to Yle, after authorities reopened the shipping route. The delay meant that passengers faced several additional hours before the vessel could depart for Tallinn.
Local ferry services between the mainland and Suomenlinna continued operating during the incident.
There had also been reports of unusual objects in the same general area before Saturday evening. Helsingin Sanomat reported that two boaters had contacted the newspaper after seeing something unusual in the sea. One of them said they had noticed an object near the Harmaja pilot station on Friday.
The newspaper could not establish whether those earlier sightings were connected to the object recovered on Saturday.
For authorities, the incident illustrates the precautions required when an unidentified object is discovered in a busy maritime route. Even when an object ultimately turns out to be harmless, its nature cannot be assumed while passenger vessels and other traffic are using the same channel.
In this case, what initially caused several hours of uncertainty turned out to be a rusted mechanical part apparently linked to an old shipwreck. With the object removed and the shipping area reopened, police said there was no reason for further investigation.
