Finland bringing tanker suspected of damaging undersea cable to shore

Finnish police intend to transport the Eagle S, a Russia-linked tanker the authorities seized after suspecting it of intentionally damaging a Baltic Sea power cable, to shore.

The tanker is to be moved from the Gulf of Finland to an anchorage near the Finnish port of Kilpilahti to facilitate the investigation, the police said in a statement on Saturday.

A one-nautical-mile exclusion zone is being set up around the tanker “to ensure operational safety of the authorities.” The statement added that a no-fly zone is currently in effect.

The ship was stopped after the undersea power cable Estlink2 between Finland and Estonia failed on December 25. Investigators are looking into the possibility of sabotage.

The ship sails under the flag of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. According to the EU, the vessel is part of the Russian “shadow fleet” – tankers and other cargo ships that Russia uses to circumvent international sanctions by transporting oil, for example.

Problems have also been identified with several communication cables in the Baltic Sea in recent weeks.