NATO will reinforce its presence in the Baltic and Estonia sends its navy after the main cable was cut

NATO has said it will enhance its military presence in the Baltic Sea, and Estonia has sent a patrol ship to protect its Estlink1 undersea power cable, after Russia was accused of sabotaging its main power link in the Gulf of Finland.

A ship named Eagle S is suspected of damaging the Estlink 2 cable and the Finnish coast guard crew boarded the tanker and directed it towards Finnish waters.

The EU said the Eagle S was part of “Russia’s shadow fleet” and the undersea cable failure was the “latest in a series of alleged attacks on critical infrastructure”.

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said the Raju had set sail early on Friday and he believed Finland would join the operation to protect the remaining cable.

He told Estonian public radio that the Raju’s task was to “ensure that nothing happens there and that our critical connection with Finland remains operational.”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on social media that he had spoken to Finnish President Alexander Stubb, adding that NATO would reinforce its presence in the Baltic.

Finland and Estonia are members of NATO and Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal told public television that if necessary they would invoke Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, which involves consultations if any member state feels threatened.

“Our wish would be to receive reinforcements from NATO in the form of a fleet that acts as a deterrent,” he said, according to the BNS news agency.

Estonia’s power supply has been drastically reduced after the 170-kilometer (105-mile) Estlink 2 cable was cut.

In its initial assessment on Thursday, Finnish company Fingrid said repairs to the cable could last until the end of July 2025.

The damage to Estlink 2 is the third incident in just over a month in the Baltic Sea.

Last month, two data cables were cut: the Arelion cable between the Swedish island of Gotland and Lithuania on November 17, and then the C-Lion 1 cable was damaged between the Finnish capital Helsinki and the German port of Rostock. .

A Chinese ship, the Yi Peng 3, was suspected of dragging its anchor over cables in a separate act of Russian sabotage.

In October 2023, another Chinese ship breached an underwater gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia.

The Yi Peng 3 and Eagle S are suspected of being part of the so-called shadow fleet of tankers that Russia is using to avoid Western sanctions imposed since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The EU said it was working on measures including sanctions to target “Russia’s shadow fleet, which threatens security and the environment.”

After several weeks anchored in the Kattegat Strait between Sweden and Denmark, the Chinese tanker was finally boarded by authorities from Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Finland, but then set sail last week.

By contrast, Finnish authorities said they had boarded the Eagle S, registered in the Cook Islands, in the early hours of Thursday and it was escorted to the Finnish coast off Porkkala, across the Gulf of Finland from Tallinn.

“Our patrol officer traveled to the area and was able to visually determine that the ship’s anchor was missing,” Markku Hassinen, deputy head of the Finnish Border Guard, said at a news conference.

The Estonian Prime Minister tried to reassure Estonians on Thursday that they would continue to have a secure electricity supply.

The two main power companies, Elering and Eesti Energia, had several reserve and backup power plants, he told reporters.

However, he added that it was impossible to protect every square meter of seabed at all times.