agencies
Helsinki
Finnish police on Saturday transported a Russia-linked suspected of intentionally damaging a Baltic Sea power cable to shore.
The Eagle S has been moved from the Gulf of Finland to an anchorage near the Finnish port of Kilpilahti to facilitate the investigation, the police said in a statement.
A one-nautical-mile exclusion zone was set up around the tanker “to ensure operational safety of the authorities.” The ship was stopped after the undersea power cable Estlink2 between Finland and Estonia failed on December 25. Investigators are looking into the possibility of sabotage.
The ship sails under the flag of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. According to the EU, the vessel is part of the Russian “shadow fleet” - tankers and other cargo ships that Russia uses to circumvent international sanctions by transporting oil, for example. Problems have also been identified with several communication cables in the Baltic Sea in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, NATO has said it will enhance its military presence in the Baltic Sea, and Estonia has sent a patrol ship to protect its Estlink1 undersea power cable, after Russia was accused of sabotaging its main power link in the Gulf of Finland.
The EU said the Eagle S was part of “Russia’s shadow fleet” and the failure of the undersea cable was the “latest in a series of suspected attacks on critical infrastructure”.
Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said the Raju had set sail early on Friday and he believed Finland would join the operation to protect the remaining cable.
He told Estonian public radio that the Raju’s task was “to ensure that nothing happens there and that our critical connection with Finland remains operational”. The Kremlin has declined to comment on the damage to the cable, describing it as a “very narrow issue” and not an issue for the Russian presidency.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on social media that he had spoken to Finland’s president, Alexander Stubb, adding that NATO would boost its presence in the Baltic. A further statement by the alliance said only that “NATO remains vigilant and is working to provide further support”.
Finland and Estonia are both NATO members and Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal told public TV that, if necessary, they would invoke Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, which involves consultation if any member state feels threatened.
