A Russian shadow fleet tanker is at the centre of an investigation into suspected sabotage of an undersea power cable in the Baltic Sea, Finnish authorities have said.
The Estlink 2 power line between Estonia and Finland is offline following a power cut on Christmas Day and suspicion has fallen on the Eagle S, a tanker the Finnish Customs service said is part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet. The term refers to ships used by Russia to get around international sanctions on its oil exports.
The Cook Islands-registered ship was on its way from Saint Petersburg to Port Said in Egypt but slowed down in the vicinity of the cables in the Gulf of Finland, according to the Marinetraffic website.
Finnish police said the ship was boarded overnight on Wednesday and they have begun an investigation into the incident, as well as into the background of the Eagle S and its crew.
“From our side we are investigating grave sabotage,” Robin Lardot, director of the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation, said. “According to our understanding an anchor of the vessel that is under investigation has caused the damage.”
The ship is in Finnish territorial waters and the country's border guard said an inspection revealed its anchors were missing. Ships are suspected of cutting cables by dragging their anchors over them.
Following the incident, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the damage to the cable must be regarded as an attack against “vital infrastructure” and the shadow fleet is a threat to security in the Baltic.
Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo had earlier said an investigation into damage inflicted on the Estlink 2 cable was under way, although power supplies would not be affected.
Two telecoms cables in the Baltic that linked Sweden to Denmark were severed last month. Suspicions rapidly fell on the Chinese ship Yi Peng 3, which according to ship tracking sites had sailed over the cables around the time they were cut.
China promised to this week to continue co-operation with regional authorities over the incident and said the vessel had left to “to ensure the physical and mental well-being of the crew”.
“The ship owner company, after a comprehensive evaluation and consultation with relevant parties, decided to resume operations,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said. “China has notified all relevant countries in advance. China is willing to maintain communication and co-operation with the countries involved to advance the follow-up handling of the incident.
Finnish police are also continuing to investigate damage caused last year to the Balticconnector gas pipeline linking Finland and Estonia, as well as several telecoms cables, and have said this was likely to have been caused by a ship dragging its anchor.
Police in Sweden are, meanwhile, leading an investigation into the breach last month of two Baltic Sea telecom cables, in an incident German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said he assumed was sabotage.
In 2022, the Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream gas pipelines running along the seabed in the same waters were blown up, in a case still under investigation by Germany.
