The Finnish Navy said that its surveillance systems detected the possible underwater object on Monday inside but near the limit of Finnish territorial waters.
The navy’s operations manager Commodore Olavi Jantunen said he was unable to say whether or not the item was a submarine. He also said he preferred not to speculate on what the object might be.
“A possible underwater object. That is the only thing we can say at the moment,” Jantunen told Yle Tuesday.
Another reading for a possible object was recorded Monday night. Surface vessels are currently scouring the area for the possible object.
“When the first sighting was made a search was ordered and a new reading was observed in the search area last night,” Jantunen added.
Following the findings naval officials detonated low-impact depth charges around 3.00 this morning.
“Low-impact depth charges are meant to issue a mild warning. They aren’t intended to cause any damage, but to act as a warning,” Jantunen explained.
Naval officials are continuing their investigation into the case. Jantunen said that the next step would be to analyse data gathered from the navy’s surveillance systems.
“Different sensors in our systems have generated a certain amount of certain material and it is currently being put through our research system,” the naval officer commented.
He noted that analysis of the data gathered could take days or even weeks.