Police catch man who made bomb threat to ferries

TALLINN – Police have apprehended a male suspect who made a bomb threat to ferry services on the Virtsu-Kuivastu route in an email sent to the shipper's customer service address on Friday morning. 

The email was sent by a 31-year-old man living in Harju County.

"We have detained the man and he will be taken to the detention center for the clarification of details and the conduct of procedural acts," Margo Peters,  head of operations at the West Prefecture of the Police and Border Guard Board, said. 

"Making a bomb threat has serious consequences. The police will always do everything they can to eliminate the threat, quickly identify the person who made the threat and bring them to justice," Peters said. 

An investigation has been opened based on the section of the Penal Code dealing with aggravated breach of public order. 

At 8:40 a.m., the emergency response center was notified that the customer service of TS Laevad, the operator of the ferries, had received an email saying that a bomb was about to arrive on a Virtsu-Kuivastu ferry around noon on Friday.

Bomb disposal specialists were deployed to inspect the ferries plying the Virtsu-Kuivastu route before departure. No bomb was found.

Ferries on the route, which connects the islands of Saaremaa and Muhu with the mainland, will continue to operate as scheduled.