An oil tanker that was sailing in the area when the Finland-Estonia electrical link was disrupted has been escorted and boarded by the Finnish Border Guard.
According to global ship tracking website MarineTraffic, the vessel in question, the Eagle S, flying the Cook Islands flag, noticeably slowed down while passing over the cable around the time the transmission was disrupted.
The Finnish Border Guard’s patrol vessel Turva escorted the tanker to waters some 20km off Porkkalaniemi, a peninsula on the Gulf of Finland, on Wednesday evening. The ship is now anchored in Finnish territorial waters and a three-kilometre no-fly zone has been imposed in the area.
The ship was boarded by a Finnish coast guard crew which took command in the Baltic Sea and sailed the vessel to Finnish waters, a coast guard official told a press conference.
According to the Finnish Border Guard, the anchors on the Eagle S vessel were not in place, raising suspicions among authorities.
When instructed to raise the anchor, it was not present at the end of a broken chain.
Officials said that based on the preliminary investigation, there is reason to believe the vessel’s anchor has caused the damage.
Authorities have also reported disruptions in a total of four telecommunications cables connecting Finland in the Baltic Sea.
The oil tanker was, according to MarineTraffic, on its way from St Petersburg to Egypt.
According to the British publication Lloyd’s List, the Eagle S tanker is part of Russia’s oil-carrying ‘dark fleet’, also known as ‘shadow fleet’.
The publication defines a “dark fleet” as vessels older than 15 years whose true owner is unknown, and whose sole purpose is to transport oil from sanctioned countries.
These ships are involved in deceptive maritime practices defined by the US government, and typically lack proper insurance. They are often very old vessels that are poorly maintained, making them major environmental risks as well.
Lloyd’s List reported that the tanker belongs to Caravella, a company based in the United Arab Emirates, and is the only vessel in the company’s fleet.
In July, the British publication reported that the Eagle S, a ship about 20 years old and in poor condition, posed a security and environmental risk.
The electricity connection between Finland and Estonia via Estlink 2 was disrupted shortly after noon on Christmas Day.
According to Arto Pahkin, manager of Fingrid’s Main Grid Control Centre, the damaged area is located in the Finnish side of the subsea cable between the two countries, making Fingrid responsible for the repair. Pahkin estimated that repairs could take up to seven months.
Police are working with the Border Guard and other authorities to investigate the sequence of events leading to the incident. Police said it is now investigating the incident as a case of aggravated vandalism.
Fingrid’s manager Pahkin told Yle on Wednesday that the possibility of terrorism or vandalism cannot be ruled out.
According to Pahkin, two vessels were near the marine cable at the time the connection was severed.
President Alexander Stubb has received a briefing on the cable damage in the Gulf of Finland from top officials.
“The risks posed by vessels connected to Russia’s shadow fleet must be countered,” he posted.
He also mentioned closely monitoring the situation with Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) on Christmas Day and commended the effective collaboration among authorities investigating the incident.
Damage to subsea installations in the Baltic Sea has now become so frequent that it is difficult to believe this was caused merely by accident or poor seamanship, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in a statement.
“We must understand that damage to submarine infrastructure has become more systematic and thus must be regarded as attacks against our vital structures,” Tsahkna said.
(Photo is illustrative)
