Finland
Damaged cables in the Baltic Sea: Police find kilometer-long trail of dragging
A ship from the Russian “shadow fleet” is suspected of having damaged submarine cables in the Baltic Sea. An important trace has now been discovered on the seabed.
After damage to cables in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Estonia, Finnish investigators have now found a clue at the bottom of the sea.
A drag mark several kilometers long was discovered during underwater operations, Finnish police said in a statement on Sunday.
“With the underwater operations, we were able to identify the drag mark on the seabed from start to finish. The trace is dozens of kilometers long,” said tactical leader, Chief Detective Sami Paila of the National Criminal Investigation Department (NBI).
It is still unclear where the missing anchor from the Eagle S tanker could have come loose.
Investigators have to suspend investigations into tanker Eagle S
The police want to get a precise picture of the incidents in the Gulf of Finland with the help of the investigations on board the tanker Eagle S and the underwater investigation on site. Police seized the tanker on Saturday after it was stranded off the Finnish coast.
The tanker is suspected of having dragged the track and damaged several underwater cables in the process. The NBI continued its investigations on and around the ship after the tanker was brought to an anchorage on Saturday.
However, bad weather hampered the investigations on Sunday. Technical investigations are carried out on board. However, the focus of the investigation is on questioning the crew.
The bad weather also complicated the NBI investigators’ underwater work, which also had to be suspended on Sunday.
Cable damaged in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Estonia
On Christmas Day, damage was discovered to the Estlink 2 power cable between Finland and Estonia. Problems were also found on several communication cables in the Baltic Sea.
Finland suspects that the anchor of the Eagle S tanker, which took off from St. Petersburg, Russia, damaged the cable on the seabed. Therefore, Finland stopped the tanker and escorted it into Finnish waters.
The Finnish authorities are investigating suspected “serious sabotage”. Just a month ago, two important telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea were damaged within a few hours. In this case, a Chinese freighter was suspected.
Russia’s “shadow fleet” suspected
Finnish investigators suspect that the suspected Eagle S belongs to the so-called Russian “shadow fleet,” which Russia uses to circumvent the oil embargo imposed two years ago as a result of the war in Ukraine. Russia uses foreign-flagged tankers for its “shadow fleet” to export crude oil and oil products despite international sanctions. The Eagle S sails under the flag of the Cook Islands.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced on Friday that he would increase the defense alliance’s presence in the Baltic Sea. Rutte said he had spoken to Finnish President Alexander Stubb about the recent investigation and supported the investigation into the incident.
Sources: , news agencies AFP, DPA and Reuters
Source: Stern
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