The Eagle S tanker suspected of belonging to Russia's “ghost fleet” and of being the cause of a breakdown on a submarine cable in the Baltic Sea, was seized by Finnish police and moved for the purposes of the investigation, Helsinki said on Saturday.
“The cause of this transfer is that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) seized the Eagle S. (…) The new location presents better possibilities for investigative procedures,” the police said in a statement .
Finnish police indicated that the ship, which was sailing under the Cook Islands flag as part of this fleet intended to circumvent sanctions, came from Russia. He was arrested on December 26 after the rupture of an underwater electrical cable linking Finland to Estonia. It had been moved under escort to the harbor of the port of Kilpilahti, 40 kilometers east of Helsinki.
The ship had previously been anchored off Porkkala, in the Gulf of Finland. Kilpilahti Port is a port for liquid cargo ships.
The Eagle S. is transporting unleaded gasoline loaded in a Russian port, bound for Egypt.
Escorted by a Finnish coast guard patrol boat, the tanker left its anchorage late in the morning and dropped anchor in front of the port of Kilpilahti late in the afternoon, police said.
On Christmas Day, the EstLink 2 electricity link between Finland and Estonia was disconnected from the network. The operator said it was “out of service” due to damage not yet assessed. Finnish police have opened an investigation into “sabotage”.
The Baltic Sea has been the scene, since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, of several similar incidents.
These actions, targeting in particular energy and communication infrastructures, are part, according to experts and politicians, in the context of the “hybrid war” led by Moscow in this vast area bordered, in addition to Russia, by member countries of the NATO.
published on December 28 at 5:46 p.m., AFP
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