Finland refuses to release tanker suspected of severing power cable between Finland and Estonia

A Finnish court on January 3 rejected a request to release the oil tanker Eagle S, suspected of sabotage committed on December 25, when a power cable and four telecommunications cables between Finland and Estonia in the Baltic Sea were severed.

A request to the Helsinki District Court to lift the detention of the vessel was filed on December 30 by the vessel's official owner, Caravella LLC FZ, based in the United Arab Emirates. Emirates.

“This district court has dismissed the defendant's claim, which means that this arrest remains in force”, — Helsinki District Court Judge Tatu Koistinen.

Finland detained the Eagle S tanker, which was carrying Russian oil and is likely part of the Russian Federation's “shadow fleet”, on December 26, the day after the EstLink 2 power cable was cut.

Investigators suspect that the ship dragged its anchor along the seabed for many kilometers, causing the cables to break. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna had previously said that the delay was unlikely to be accidental. Finnish lawyer Herman Ljungberg, who represented Caravella LLC FZ, said the company planned to file a new motion to release the vessel and crew. Ljungberg, who accused Finland of seizing the Eagle S in international waters, also said his motion sought transparency about where the seizure took place, but that was also rejected by the court. Finnish Customs seized the tanker's cargo – 35,000 tons of unleaded gasoline – while it investigates whether sanctions imposed against Russia were violated.

The owners of the tanker's cargo also plan to seek its release, Ljungberg said. He declined to name the owners but said none of them were Russian.

Meanwhile, the operator of the EstLink 2 cable, national energy agency Fingrid, said it had asked authorities to seize the tanker.

“Fingrid today (January 2) filed a motion with the Helsinki District Court to seize the vessel Eagle S to secure its claim for damages to the EstLink 2 cable”, — the company said in a statement.

Fingrid plans to conduct a new inspection of the cable to determine the exact nature of the damage and carry out repairs.

“We start tomorrow (January 3) to assess the extent of the damage and gather the information needed to repair it”, Fingrid Kimmo Nepola told AFP.

The Eagle S, registered in the Cook Islands, was brought to the harbor of the Finnish port of Kilpilahti, near Helsinki. Finnish police are currently collecting evidence and questioning the crew, who are Georgian and Indian citizens. Police previously said that a total of seven of the approximately 20 crew members are suspects in the sabotage investigation.

Other incidents in the Baltic Sea

In addition to the current incident, infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, surrounded by NATO countries and Russia, has been subject to alleged sabotage several times since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

On November 17 and 18, 2024, two undersea fiber-optic communication cables – between Lithuania and Sweden and between Finland and Germany – located approximately 200 km apart, were severed while the Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 was in that area of ​​the Baltic Sea.

The vessel left the Russian port of Ust-Luga on November 15. On December 21, China allowed representatives from Germany, Sweden, Finland and Denmark to board the Yi Peng 3 along with Chinese investigators after a month-long diplomatic standoff that saw the ship dock in Danish shipping lanes.

However, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said on December 23 that China had not heeded the Swedish government's request for a Swedish prosecutor to be able to conduct its own investigation on board. The bulk carrier has since left the incident area.

On October 8, 2023, the Balticconnector underwater gas pipeline, which connects Finland and Estonia on the bottom of the Baltic Sea, was ruptured by the Chinese container ship NewNew Polar Bear pulling an anchor through the seabed, Finnish investigators found.

Estonian police suspect the vessel also damaged telecommunications cables connecting Estonia to Finland and Sweden on October 7-8 before it ruptured a gas pipeline on its way to a port near St. Petersburg in Russia .

China promised Finland and Estonia help in the investigation, but the Estonian authorities said that the Chinese did not keep their promises.

Finnish and Estonian investigators have not been able to determine whether the Hong Kong-flagged vessel caused the damage accidentally or intentionally, and have not yet released their findings on the incidents.

On September 26, 2022, explosions damaged the Russian gas pipelines “Nord Stream-1” and “Nord Stream-2”, built in the Baltic Sea by the Russian state company “Gazprom” to transport natural gas to Germany, bypassing Ukraine's gas transportation system.

Swedish seismologists recorded several underwater explosions approximately 17 hours apart off the Danish island of Bornholm, which ruptured three of the four pipelines in the “Nord Stream” system, releasing methane into the atmosphere.

During the investigation, Sweden found traces of explosives on several items found at the scene of the incident, confirming a deliberate act of sabotage. However, Sweden and Denmark closed their investigations in 2024 without naming suspects.

No one has claimed responsibility for the sabotage. Some Western officials have suggested that Moscow blew up its own pipelines.

Meanwhile, Russia has blamed the United States, Britain and Ukraine for the explosions. All countries have denied involvement.

In August 2024, Germany asked Poland to arrest a Ukrainian diving instructor whom Berlin accused of belonging to a group that blew up the gas pipelines. Poland said the man had left the country before they could arrest him.