Estonian armyNATO said it would increase its military presence in the Baltic Sea, and Estonia sent a patrol vessel to protect its Estlink1 undersea power cable after Russia was accused of sabotaging its main energy link in the Gulf of Finland.
A vessel called the Eagle S was suspected of damaging the Estlink 2 cable and the Finnish Coast Guard crew boarded the oil tanker and steered it into 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 suspected attacks on critical infrastructure”.
Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said the Raju had set sail early Friday and he believed Finland would join the operation to protect the remaining cable.
He told Estonian public radio that Raju's task was to “ensure that nothing happens there and that our critical link with Finland remains operational”.
The Kremlin declined to comment on the cable failure, describing it as a “very narrow issue” and not a matter for the Russian presidency.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on social media that he had spoken with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, adding that NATO will strengthen its presence in the Baltics. A further statement from the alliance said only that “NATO remains vigilant and is working to provide additional support”.
Finland and Estonia are NATO members, and Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal told public television that, if necessary, they would invoke Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, which includes consultations, if any member state feels threatened.
“Our desire would be to receive reinforcements from NATO in the form of a fleet to act as a deterrent,” he was quoted as saying by the BNS news agency.
Electricity supply to Estonia was drastically reduced after the 170 km (105 mi) Estlink 2 cable was shut down.
In its initial assessment on Thursday, Finnish company Fingrid said the cable repair could last until the end of July 2025.
The failure of Estlink 2 is the third incident in just over a month in the Baltic Sea.
Two data cables were cut last month: 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 the cables in a separate act of Russian sabotage.
EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockIn October 2023, another Chinese ship ruptured an underwater gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia.
Both the Yi Peng 3 and the Eagle S are suspected of being part of the so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers that Russia uses to avoid Western sanctions imposed after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The EU said it was working on measures including sanctions against “Russia's shadow fleet that threatens security and the environment”.
After several weeks at anchor in the Kattegat Strait between Sweden and Denmark, the Chinese tanker was eventually taken on board by authorities from Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Finland, but then set sail last week.
In contrast, Finnish authorities said they boarded the Cook Islands-registered Eagle S in the early hours of Thursday and it was being escorted to the Finnish coast off Porkala, across the Gulf of Finland from Tallinn.
“Our patrol vessel traveled to the area and could visually determine that the ship's anchor was missing,” Markku Hasinen, deputy chief of the Finnish border guard, told a news conference.
Estonia's prime minister sought to reassure Estonians on Thursday that they will continue to have secure electricity supplies.
The two main power companies, Elering and Eesti Energia, had various back-up and standby power plants, he told reporters.
However, he added that it is impossible to protect every square meter of the seabed at all times.