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Finland suspects an oil tanker that is part of Russia's shadow fleet of damaging an underwater power cable and three communications cables, opening an investigation into the vessel for aggravated sabotage.
The Eagle S was stopped by Finnish authorities after the Estlink 2 submarine power cable was cut in the Gulf of Finland on Wednesday. The tanker, registered in the Cook Islands and carrying oil from Russia to Egypt according to ship tracking data, was seen passing over the cable at the time of the accident.
Finnish police said on Thursday they believed the ship's anchor, which they could not find on board, had severed the cables.
“We must be able to prevent the risks posed by ships of the Russian Shadow Fleet,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in a post on X after a meeting with security leaders on Thursday.
The old Eagle S tanker is part of Russia's shadow fleet, according to people familiar with the investigation.
the Shadow fleet It is a collection of old and often poorly maintained ships that Russia uses to circumvent international sanctions imposed on its oil exports.
The Christmas Day incident appears to be the latest in a series of pipelines and cables targeted by foreign ships in the Baltic Sea, raising fears of deliberate attacks on vital infrastructure between the two countries. NATO countries.
Last year, the Chinese container ship Newnew Polar Bear, Cutting the gas pipeline Between Finland and Estonia, but the authorities did not stop it, as happened in international waters.
The Chinese bulk carrier, Yi Peng 3, last month ran two data cables between Finland and Germany and Sweden and Lithuania at times when they were cut. It stopped for a month in international waters between Denmark and Sweden.
Chinese investigators finally boarded the ship last week, with representatives from Sweden, Denmark, Germans and Finns serving as observers. But the Swedish Foreign Minister criticized Beijing for not allowing the lead Swedish investigator to do so On board or for inspectionWhich has now left the area.
The Eagle S case is different, as the ship voluntarily stopped within Finnish waters, according to people familiar with the investigation, leaving no doubt about jurisdiction. The ownership of the Eagle S is a mystery but it appears to be the only ship owned by a company in Dubai. Attempts to reach the owner on Thursday were unsuccessful.
Both Finland and Estonia said damage to Estlink 2 would not affect their electricity supplies. But it increases pressure on Estonia because the cable was mostly used to export power to the Baltic state from Finland. Energy data showed that Estonia had to import electricity from Russia to cover the shortage.
Margus Tsahkna, Estonia's foreign minister, said he could not “rule out intentional damage to the cable. There have been so many accidents (in) the Baltic Sea that coincidences have become intolerable.”
Finnish authorities are keeping an open mind about the motive behind the latest incident, not least because of the poor state of maintenance in which much of the shadow fleet is suffering. But a number of governments in the region suspect Russia of paying crews to cause damage.
Environmental activists have issued repeated warnings about the dangers in the area and elsewhere from rickety ships.
In the Mediterranean, a Russian cargo ship subject to US sanctions due to its work with the Russian military sank between Spain and Algeria on Tuesday.
