Russian tanker suspected in EstLink 2 sabotage inquiry
The Finnish police suspect a Russian tanker of damaging the EstLink 2 cable.
Finnish police have reported that the Russian tanker Eagle S may be responsible for damaging the underwater power cable EstLink 2. The ship, belonging to Russia's "shadow fleet," was detained by the Finnish border guard.
Officers boarded the ship early Thursday morning at around 02:00 GMT, as confirmed by Deputy Commander Markku Hassinen. Suspicions were raised due to the fact that the ship’s anchors were not in their proper positions.
The Central Criminal Police have classified the incident as an "act of destruction (sabotage)." The Finnish operator Fingrid reported the EstLink 2 malfunction and the interruption of energy transmission between Finland and Estonia.
Damaged cable in the Baltic. Finland investigates the case
The disruption of the energy connection between Finland and Estonia, which occurred on Wednesday around midday, has raised concerns about possible sabotage. The Finnish operator Fingrid, responsible for energy transmission, emphasises that the cause of the malfunction is still under investigation.
Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo assured on the X platform that Finnish authorities are "not resting, even on Christmas, and are investigating the incident." He emphasised that the cable outage did not cause power supply issues for the country.
EstLink 2 is the second transmission line connecting Finland with Estonia. The total length of this connection is approximately 170 kilometres, of which about 145 kilometres run under the Gulf of Finland. It is worth noting that the connection was out of service from January to September this year due to a short circuit.
