He was accused of spying for China. Judgment has begun even though the man is dead

The man started working at a Finnish shipyard in the late 1970s. In 2017, he retired and founded a consulting company that established cooperation with a Chinese company. He might have avoided future trouble if he didn’t brag about his new job on social media. Former shipyard colleagues recognized from published photographs (including from his computer monitor) familiar folders related to the construction project of the world’s largest cruise ship, the Icon of the Seas, which is currently being completed at a Finnish shipyard.

Allegations of espionage

Copying the drawings of the “Icon of the Seas” and cooperation with a Chinese shipyard led to the fact that the engineer was accused of espionage. The trial of this case began in a Finnish court in Turku. However, the man did not live to see this, since he died in August last year, that he copied the files to his computer, it turned out that he had been doing this for many months. Although the accused is dead, the Finnish shipyard is now demanding millions of euros in compensation from the estate.

According to the defense, the data was copied only for personal use. However, representatives of the shipyard, referring to the contents of the computer, believe that the materials were transferred to a Chinese company.

It is estimated that the databases of copied projects are worth at least half a billion euros. It consists not only of plans for a cruise ship, but also of many years of Finnish know-how in the field of shipbuilding. The cost of the “Icon of the Seas” alone is estimated at about 1-2 billion euros.