Getty ImagesFinnish police are investigating whether a Russian ship was involved in the sabotage of an electrical cable running between Finland and Estonia.
Authorities said Thursday they believe the anchor of the Eagle S, a Cook Islands-registered tanker, may have damaged the Estlink 2 cable, which snapped on Wednesday.
The vessel is believed to be part of Russia's “shadow fleet”, which consists of ships carrying embargoed Russian oil products.
This is the latest in a series of incidents in recent years in which submarine cables in the Baltic region have been damaged or completely severed.
Fingrid, Finland's national grid operator, said Estlink 2 remained out of service but the failure “does not threaten the operation of the electricity system” in the country.
Repairs are expected to take “several months.”
“On our side, we are investigating serious sabotage,” said Robin Lardot, director of Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
President Alexander Stubb posted on X that he had been given an “overview” of the cable breach by authorities.
He stressed the need to “prevent the risks” posed by vessels that are part of the shadow fleet.
Finnish police said the case was being investigated as an “aggravated crime”.
The damaged cable had a transmission capacity of 650 megawatts and is 170 km (105 mi) long, 145 km of which is submerged. The damage was located on Thursday in the underwater section.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on Thursday that damage to critical underwater infrastructure had become “so frequent” that he questioned the idea that this failure could be considered “accidental” or “just bad seamanship”.
“We need to understand that damage to underwater infrastructure has become more systematic and therefore should be seen as attacks on our vital structures,” Tsakhna said in a press release.
The Foreign Office added that the Eagle S was escorted to a Finnish port.
“In addition to circumventing sanctions, the shadow fleet is a security threat in the Baltic Sea, and we cannot just sit back and watch,” Tsakhna continued.
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A telecommunications cable between Finland and Germany has been cut in November and the internet connection between Lithuania and the Swedish island of Gotland went down around the same time.
German prosecutors are still investigating the 2022 explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany.
And in October 2023. a natural gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was severely damaged.
Finnish authorities later said the accident was caused by a Chinese container ship that was dragging its anchor.