Update (0828ET):
According to Bloomberg, Finnish authorities boarded the crude oil tanker known as Eagle S. after the disruption of a 658-megawatt Estlink 2 power interconnector and multiple data cables.
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The Estlink 2 electricity cable connecting Finland and Estonia was interrupted on Christmas Day, raising concerns about a potential undersea cable sabotage incident in the Baltic region.
The Financial Times reported that Finnish authorities are looking into a crude oil tanker named Eagle S. The tanker, flying the Cook Islands flag, is allegedly part of Russia’s “dark fleet.”
Information from the ship-tracking website MarineTraffic revealed that the vessel slowed down when the 658-megawatt Estlink 2 power interconnector was disrupted. The tanker was traveling from St. Petersburg to Egypt through the Baltics.
Sources also suggested that Eagle S is being investigated for its potential involvement in cutting three communications cables in the Gulf of Finland.
The movement of the Eagle S vessel was highly irregular and correlated with the location and timing of the Estlink 2 cable damage. pic.twitter.com/IpEUq13n3k
— Kamsarmax (@cashsarmax) December 25, 2024
MarineTraffic data showed that the Finnish Border Guard’s patrol vessel Turva escorted the tanker to waters off Porkkalaniemi, a peninsula on the Gulf of Finland, on Wednesday night.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo stated that authorities were investigating the incident.
Orpo mentioned, “The disruption of the transmission connection will not impact the electricity supply for Finns.”
Estonian public broadcaster ERR reported no power outages for citizens in Estonia or Finland. Local power officials confirmed that there was enough spare capacity on the grid to meet demand and prevent blackouts.
The Baltic Sea region has been on high alert for potential sabotage. In the previous month, a Chinese vessel was suspected of tampering with the C-Lion 1 submarine cable connecting Helsinki and the German port of Rostock.
Other news…
On Wednesday, Russian news agency RIA claimed that the owners of the Russian cargo ship that sank in the Mediterranean Sea attributed the explosions in the vessel’s engine room to “terrorism.”
Additionally, an Azerbaijan Airlines flight J28243 crashed in the Kazakhstani city of Aktau on Christmas Day. Speculation suggested that the Embraer ERJ-190’s vertical stabilizer, horizontal stabilizer, and elevators may have been damaged by “shrapnel” before the crash.
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