The Baltic Sea is once again the scene of an incident against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. Finland has opened an investigation for “sabotage” after the breakdown of an underwater electrical cable connecting it to Estonia on Wednesday, December 25. Finnish authorities suspect an oil tanker from Russia of being behind sabotage. Similar incidents have occurred since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, such as the breaking of two telecommunications cables in Swedish territorial waters just over two months ago. Here is what we know about this new episode.
Power connection between Finland and Estonia disconnected on Christmas Day
Wednesday, December 25, at 12:26 p.m. local time, “the EstLink 2 direct current link between Finland and Estonia has disconnected from the network”explained the Finnish operator Fingrid on its site, specifying that“at the time of disconnection, the power transferred was 658 MW from Finland to Estonia”. The Finnish Prime Minister, Petteri Orpo, immediately reacted on the social network X: “The authorities remain vigilant, even during Christmas, and are investigating the situation. The cut of the transmission link does not affect the electricity supply to Finns.”
The extent of the damage to the cable is currently impossible to assess, Tuomas Rauhala, head of electrical system operations at Finnish operator Fingrid, told AFP on Friday. The cable is “out of service and can only be used for electricity transmission once repairs are completed”he added, specifying that these would take around seven months. But for now “it is not possible to determine what exactly needs to be repaired or what the cable looks like”he continued. Fingrid is using electrical measurements from the coast to assess the nature and extent of the damage.
Questioned by the Finnish media Yle, Arto Pahkin, head of operations at Fingrid, estimated that “the possibility of sabotage could not be excluded”. “However, we are reviewing the entire situation and will provide more information once the cause is identified.”he stressed.
The tanker “Eagle S”, coming from Russia, suspected
Finnish authorities said at a news conference Thursday that they suspect the tanker Eagle Sfrom Russia, to be involved in the incident. Flying the flag of the Cook Islands, this ship, which left the port of Saint Petersburg, was en route to Port Said, Egypt, according to the online ship tracking site Marine Traffic. The Finnish armed forces were dispatched to board him. He was then escorted by a Finnish patrol boat off the coast of Porkkala, around forty kilometers from Helsinki.
Finnish authorities suspect an anchor from this ship was the cause of the disconnection of the EstLink 2 cable network. “Our patrol boat went to the area and was able to visually see that the anchors of this cargo ship were not present. So there was a very clear reason to suspect that something strange was going on.”explained Markku Hassinen, of the border guard force, to the press. “We spoke to the crew and collected evidence”affirmed for his part Robin Lardot, of the National Bureau of Investigation, adding that the investigations now focused on a “aggravated sabotage. The boat was also carrying “unleaded gasoline loaded into a Russian port”said the director general of Finnish customs, Sami Rakshit.
A ship suspected of belonging to the Russian “ghost fleet”
This boat is suspected by the Finnish police of being part of the Russian “ghost fleet”. This is made up of ships used by Moscow to export oil illegally, circumventing Western sanctions imposed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Made up of around 600 ships, this fleet transports nearly 1 .7 million barrels of oil per day, the British government estimated in July.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb called on X on Thursday to “eliminate” THE “risks caused” by these ships. In February, the United States sanctioned 14 tankers from this fleet. The countries of the European Union agreed in December to include on their blacklist around fifty additional tankers from the Russian “ghost fleet”.
Estonia launches patrols, NATO and EU provide support
In order to protect its electricity connection with Finland, Estonia launched sea patrols on Friday. “We have decided to send our navy near Estlink 1 [un autre câble sous la mer Baltique]“wrote Hanno Pevkur, Estonian Defense Minister, on X.
Finland has also received support from the European Union and NATO. Brussels says it is working with Finnish authorities on the investigation and threatens to take new sanctions against Russian ships, while the Alliance has proposed its “assistance” in Helsinki and Tallinn.
“Our message is very clear: “We have the situation under control, and we must continue to work vigilantly to ensure that our sensitive infrastructure is not damaged by external actors.”Finnish President Alexander Stubb said Friday at a press conference.
Precedents in this strategic area
Several events of a similar nature have taken place in the Baltic since Russian aggression in Ukraine. “Damage to sensitive underwater infrastructure has become so frequent that it is difficult to believe that these are accidents or simply poor maritime maneuvers”said Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna in this regard. Dragging an anchor across the seabed can hardly be considered an accident.”he insisted.
These actions, targeting in particular energy and communications infrastructure, are part of the context of the “hybrid war” between Russia and Western countries. The Baltic borders several NATO members, while Moscow also has entry points. On November 17 and 18, two telecommunications cables were cut in Swedish territorial waters. Suspicion quickly fell on a Chinese-flagged ship, the Yi Peng 3which was in this area at the time of the incident, according to ship tracking websites.
A similar hypothesis was formulated in November 2023, after damage caused to an underwater gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia. Finnish police concluded at the time that the container ship’s anchor NewNew Polar Bearflying the Hong Kong flag, had caused this damage.
