While the Swedish prosecutor's office's judicial investigation into the breaking of two telecommunications cables by a Chinese ship in Swedish waters in the Baltic Sea is underway, Finland is this time blaming Russia. An oil tanker, potentially operating under the cover of the ghost fleet, is suspected in the breakdown of the EstLink 2 underwater power cable.
New case regarding the rupture of submarine cables, just a few days after the bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 was authorized to return to sea on Thursday December 19 after an on-board inspection. This ship, owned by the Chinese shipowner Ningbo Yipeng Shipping, had been detained since November 19 under the surveillance of the Swedish coast guard due to its alleged responsibility in the damage to two broken telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea: the Arelion , connecting the Swedish island of Gotland with Lithuania and; the C-Lion1 between Finland and Germany.
While the judicial investigation into this case, led by the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority (SHK), is still ongoing, another case has arisen. The Finnish police opened an investigation on December 26 for “ sabotage aggravated » targeting an oil tanker potentially operated under cover of the Russian ghost fleet, these vessels classified, registered, registered, operated outside of official standards for clandestine operations and illicit trafficking).
The ghost fleet in question
L’Eagle Sflying the flag of the Cook Islands, is blamed by the Finnish authorities for the cutting of the EstLink 2 submarine cable (direct current link between Finland and Estonia), which occurred on December 25. The disruption, without consequences for users' power supply, was detected by the operators on both sides, Fingrid for Finland and Elering for Estonia.
En route to Port Said, the ship was boarded and escorted by a Finnish patrol boat off the coast of Porkkala, about 30 km from Helsinki, where it will be immobilized for a time or even its cargo seized if its involvement is proven. He had loaded unleaded gasoline in the port of Saint Petersburg, said Sami Rakshit, director general of Finnish customs at a press conference relayed by theAFP. The Finnish authorities indicate that they have elements (the anchor), noted by the border guards, allowing them to attribute responsibility. This incident reminds us of another. In October 2023, an underwater gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia, the Balticconnector, was damaged by the anchor of the container ship New Polar Bearregistered in Hong Kong.
Matter taken very seriously by the EU and NATO
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo considered, during a press conference held today. this event as “ very seriouse”, without specifically incriminating Russia at this stage. “ Damage to sensitive underwater infrastructure has become so frequent that it is difficult to believe that they are accidents or simply poor maritime maneuversindicated the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Margus Tsahkna, quoted in a press release. Dragging an anchor on the seabed can hardly be considered an accident “, he added.
The European Union was quick to react, considering new sanctions against Russian ships, whose practices of circumvention in particular of the G7 oil capping system have already been the subject of numerous measures, without much success. The latest ones targeting around fifty Russian tankers were presented in mid-December as part of the 15th sanctions package. The tenth package already had the same object. The list of ships and shipping companies is growing but in volumes, Russian oil largely continues to transit due to clandestine operations, including deep-sea Ship Oil Transfers (STS) to blur origin and destinations .
« We strongly condemn any deliberate destruction of Europe's essential infrastructure. The suspect ship is part of Russia's ghost fleet, which threatens security and the environment, while funding Russia's war budget. We will propose further measures, including sanctions, to target this fleet », Declared once again the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas. The European authorities then clarified that they were working together with Finland on the investigation, while NATO, which Finland has just joined, offered its “ assistance » in Helsinki and Tallinn.
Sector of strategic interest
The growing dependence of the global economy on digital flows makes submarine cables a sector of strategic interest. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, tensions around the Baltic Sea – whose traffic can represent up to 10% of EU maritime traffic depending on the year – have been increasing. This EU sea (excluding Russia) since 1995 has become an issue for its potential to destabilize the European economy. The Baltic is bordered by states whose support for UKraine is the strongest.
Before this new incident, several leaders alluded to possible actions carried out by Moscow since the sabotage in September 2022, a few months after the outbreak of war, of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipelines, which served Europe with Russian gas via the Germany, and its clone (Nord Stream 2), operational but never entered service. The causes still remain to be elucidated.
