The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency announced Thursday that it was inspecting the Eagle S tanker suspected of belonging to the Russian “ghost fleet” and of being the cause of a breakdown on a submarine cable in the Baltic Sea.
“On January 2, 2025, the Finnish transport and communications agency Traficom will begin a control inspection (…) of the Eagle S,” Traficom director Sanna Sonninen announced in a press release, specifying that this control took place in addition to the investigation initiated by the Finnish police.
“We are carrying out the inspection in a way that does not interfere with police operations and the investigation,” she said.
The Eagle S, flying the flag of the Cook Islands, is suspected of having damaged the EstLink 2 submarine electric cable linking Finland to Estonia on Christmas Day in the Baltic Sea.
The ship was boarded and then moved under escort to the harbor of the port of Kilpilahti, 40 kilometers east of Helsinki, where investigators inspected it and questioned its crew of around twenty members.
Since Tuesday, seven sailors have been suspected and banned from traveling.
The Eagle S is suspected of belonging to the Russian “ghost fleet”. This term refers to ships carrying embargoed Russian crude oil and petroleum products.
NATO announced on Friday that it would strengthen its military presence in the Baltic Sea.
Many similar incidents have taken place in the Baltic since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
These actions, targeting in particular energy and communication infrastructures, are part, according to experts and political leaders, in the context of the “hybrid war” between Russia and Western countries, in this vast maritime area bordered by several members of NATO, where Moscow also has entry points.
Two telecommunications cables were cut on November 17 and 18 in Swedish territorial waters. A Chinese-flagged bulk carrier, the Yi Peng 3 – which was over the area when this happened – has been in Stockholm’s sights.
The European Union had indicated that it was strengthening measures to “protect submarine cables, in particular by improving the exchange of information, implementing new detection technologies as well as underwater repair capabilities and cooperating at the international level.
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