Finland investigates Russian ship after power outage

Finnish police are investigating whether a Russian ship was involved in the sabotage of an electrical cable linking Finland and Estonia.

Authorities said Thursday they believe the anchor of the Eagle S, a Cook Islands-registered oil tanker, may have damaged the Estlink 2 cable, which was disconnected on Wednesday.

The vessel is believed to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet”, which is made up of ships carrying embargoed Russian oil products..

It is the latest in a series of incidents in recent years in which undersea cables in the Baltic region have been damaged or cut completely.

Fingrid, Finland’s national grid operator, said Estlink 2 remained out of service but the damage “did not endanger the functioning of the electricity system” in the country.

The repairs are expected to last “several months.”

“For our part, we are investigating serious sabotage,” said Robin Lardot, director of Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

President Alexander Stubb posted on X that authorities had given him a “summary” of the cable breach.

He stressed the need to “avoid the risks” posed by ships that are part of the shadow fleet.

Finnish police have said the case is being investigated as an “aggravated criminal offence.”

The damaged cable had a transmission capacity of 650 megawatts and is 170 kilometers long (105 miles), of which 145 kilometers are submerged. The fault was located on Thursday in the underwater section.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said Thursday that damage to critical underwater infrastructure has become “so frequent” that it casts doubt on the idea that this damage can be considered “accidental” or “simply poor nautical skill.” .

“We must understand that damage to underwater infrastructure has become more systematic and therefore attacks against our vital structures must be considered,” Tsahkna said in a press release.

The Foreign Ministry added that the Eagle S was escorted to a Finnish port.

“In addition to circumventing sanctions, the shadow fleet is a threat to security in the Baltic Sea and we cannot simply sit back and watch,” Tsahkna continued.

LISTEN: How vulnerable are the undersea cables that connect us?

A telecommunications cable linking Finland and Germany was cut in November, and an Internet link between Lithuania and the Swedish island of Gotland stopped working around the same time.

German prosecutors are still investigating the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipeline between Russia and Germany in 2022.

And in October 2023, a gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was severely damaged.

Finnish officials later said the incident had been caused by a Chinese container ship dragging its anchor.