Finland’s national energy agency Fingrid has requested that authorities seize a tanker suspected of deliberately damaging an undersea power cable that connects Finland with its fellow EU and NATO member state Estonia.
The EstLink 2 cable between Finland and Estonia in the Baltic Sea was damaged on December 25th along with four telecom lines. Suspicion fell on the Eagle S oil tanker, accused of causing the damage by dragging its anchor along the seabed.
Map showing the Estlink 2 power cable linking Finland to Estonia that was disconnected on December 25, as well as EstLink 1 cable, and the path of the oil tanker Eagle S.
OLIVIA BUGAULT, VALENTINA BRESCHI / AFP
The Eagle S, owned by a company in the United Arab Emirates and registered in the Cook Islands, is suspected of being part of a ‘shadow fleet’ of ships that circumvent EU sanctions imposed on Russian oil. Moscow has said Finland’s seizure of the ship is not a matter for Russia.
In 2023, the tanker failed a port safety inspection in Ghana on 24 points, a sign of an “indifferent shipping company that has not adequately instructed the crew,” maritime expert Markku Mylly told Finnish public broadcaster yle, adding that he had never seen so many deficiencies in a single inspection.
On December 26th, Helsinki police and Finland’s border guard, with help from defense helicopters, stopped the vessel and moved it to the port in Porvoo, where investigators are inspecting it and questioning its crew of 24. Police say the crew has been detained indefinitely.
“During interrogations and investigations, the police have tried to find out who was involved in the incident and who was responsible for the ship’s course during the incident. Accordingly, the freedom of movement of eight persons is currently restricted on the basis of suspicion of a crime,” said Detective Superintendent Elina Katajamäki from the National Bureau of Investigation.
Following the incident, NATO announced that it would strengthen its military presence in the Baltic Sea. Estonia said its navy was guarding the still operational EstLink 1 power cable.
The damage to the power cable is the most recent event in a series of suspected sabotage acts in the region since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago. Since then, both Finland and Sweden have joined NATO in a bid to gain more security, at the same time angering Russia, which vowed to react to the expansion of the Western military alliance.
Last November, a Chinese ship was suspected of damaging two fiber-optic data cables connecting Nordic countries to mainland Europe, but some European officials pointed the finger at Russia, calling the incidents “acts of hybrid warfare.”
In September 2022, underwater explosions damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines that run between Russia and Germany. In its investigative report, The Wall Street Journal implicated Ukrainian intelligence and military officials, as well as high-level Polish collaborators. Moscow accused Germany of failing to properly investigate the sabotage act.
