On Wednesday, December 25th, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo stated that Finnish authorities are investigating the incident of a disruption in the submarine power cable connecting Finland and Estonia. On Thursday, Finland announced that authorities have detained a foreign oil tanker and initiated an investigation.
According to reports from Reuters and the Associated Press, Finnish officials boarded an oil tanker departing from Russia on Thursday, suspecting it of causing the disruption to the submarine cable and three internet lines.
A Coast Guard official stated at a press conference that the vessel, registered in the Cook Islands, was named Eagle S and Finnish Coast Guard crew boarded the ship, took control in the Baltic Sea, and steered it into Finnish waters.
Robin Lardot, the Director of the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation, stated, “We are investigating this serious disruption incident.”
“We understand that the anchor of the vessel under investigation caused the damage to the cable,” he added.
Helsinki Police Chief Jari Liukku announced at a press conference that Finnish police and border guards boarded the vessel named “Eagle S” early Thursday morning and assumed command of the vessel. The ship has been detained in Finnish territorial waters.
Finnish Customs stated that they have seized the cargo of the ship and believe Eagle S belongs to the Russian outdated tanker shadow fleet, which is attempting to evade sanctions on Russian oil sales.
Both the Finnish and Estonian governments have announced that a special meeting will be held later on Thursday to assess the situation.
Since 2022, there have been a series of disruptions to power cables, telecommunications links, and natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea region, prompting heightened vigilance among Baltic Sea countries against potential sabotage.
Finnish operator Fingrid stated in a press release that repairing the 170-kilometer (106-mile) Estlink 2 interconnector would take several months, and the outage has increased the risk of winter power shortages.
A review of MarineTraffic vessel tracking data by Reuters revealed that the Eagle S Panamax oil tanker crossed the Estlink 2 cable at 10:26 GMT on Wednesday, coinciding with the reported outage time from Fingrid.
Data showed that on Thursday afternoon, the ship was anchored near the Finnish coast, with a Finnish patrol boat nearby.
According to MarineTraffic data, Caravella LLCFZ based in the United Arab Emirates owns Eagle S, with the company yet to respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna stated in a release that the frequent damage to the Baltic Sea’s submarine infrastructure makes it hard to believe that the causes are merely accidents or poor navigation skills.
“We must understand that the destruction of underwater infrastructure has become more systematic and must be seen as an attack on our critical structures,” Tsahkna said.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb posted on social media, “We must be able to prevent the dangers brought by the Russian shadow fleet vessels.”
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal stated on the same platform that the Estonian government held a special meeting on the incident. Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina said she has been in close contact with Michal and Finnish Prime Minister Orpo.
“Our armed forces have increased surveillance and are monitoring the situation,” she stated. “Despite the challenges posed by the Baltic Sea cable incidents, the Baltic Sea countries currently have sufficient energy production capacity.”
Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Kestutis Budrys remarked that the increasing events in the Baltic Sea serve as a stern and urgent warning to NATO and the EU to strengthen the protection of the underwater infrastructure in the region.
On December 16th, twelve Western countries announced agreed measures to “disrupt and deter” Russia’s so-called shadow fleet to prevent Russian violation of sanctions and increase the cost to Russia in the Ukraine conflict.
Last month, two telecommunication cables in the Baltic Sea were damaged, with Swedish authorities investigating the incidents. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated that he believes the damage was intentional sabotage.