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The tanker is believed to have damage submarine telecoms and electricity cables by dragging its anchor across the lines late last year
Late last month the subsea cable Estlink 2, which connects Finland and Estonia, was severed, causing significant disruption to data transport between both countries. An adjacent subsea power cable was also damaged.
An investigation into the damage was quickly launched, Finnish authorities seizing the tanker Eagle S, which was in the vicinity when the damage occurred.
Speaking the following day, Helsinki’s Police Chief Jari Liukku said Finnish authorities were “investigating grave sabotage”, with authorities further alleging that Eagle S is part of a so-called ‘shadow fleet’ of older tankers seeking to evade sanctions on the sale of Russian oil.
On Friday, the ship’s owner, United Arab Emirates-based Caravella LLC FZ, had its request to release the ship denied by a Finnish court.
Repairs to the cable system are expected to take two months.
The Baltic has turned into a hotspot for subsea cable damage since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Late last year, a pair of submarine cables in the region were damaged in what is being investigated as an act sabotage as part of Russia’s ‘hybrid warfare’ strategy to destabilise the region.
In response, NATO has said it will boost its presence in the region to protect the critical infrastructure.
The Baltic is not the only region seeing a worrisome increase in submarine cable damage in recent years. The Red Sea, for example, saw significant cable damage last year linked to Houthi rebels in Yemen attacking shipping routes.
The geopolitically charged waters around Taiwan have also seen increased cable disruption. Today, a submarine cable in the region was cut off the north-east coast of the island, with authorities blaming a Cameroonian-registered cargo ship, the Shunxin-39, for causing accidental damage.
With the world becoming increasingly unstable, the security of submarine cable networks is becoming a major international priority.
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