Finnish authorities recently found traces of anchors running several kilometers long on the Baltic seabed during an investigation into the breakage of vital power and internet cables.
“With the underwater operation, we are able to identify tracks dragged on the seabed from beginning to end,” Detective Chief Inspector Sami Pella of Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation said in a Sunday press release. “The track is dozens of kilometers long. At present, the probable location from where the anchor fell has not been established.
The announcement is the latest in a series of similar incidents in recent months and comes as NATO warns of a growing threat of unconventional Russian attacks in the region.
The underwater Estlink 2 power cable connecting Finland and Estonia was damaged along with several data cables last Wednesday. Due to the damage, electricity supply to Estonia was significantly reduced.
Finnish police and coast guard officers boarded it on Thursday eagle sA Cook Islands-registered tanker carrying Russian oil from the port of Ust-Luga before heading into Finnish territorial waters. The ship is currently anchored off the city of Porvoo, 40 kilometers east of Helsinki. Its crew is being detained on suspicion of “serious criminal mischief”.
Russian officials have said nothing about the Finnish allegations or the seizure. eagle sKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday, “I can’t say anything definitively. This is an extremely specific issue, which is hardly the prerogative of the presidential administration.”
Finnish President Alexander Stubb said Friday it was too early to determine whether the damage was intentional.
“Four cables are broken,” Stubb told reporters in Helsinki. “We were able to bring the situation under control and locate the ship, bring it to Finnish waters and initiate criminal proceedings. “A lot of damage has been caused through the cables.”
Finland doubts eagle s It is part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of older ships used to evade Western sanctions imposed on its oil exports.
Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The damage to the Estlink 2 cable is the latest in a series of similar incidents in the Baltic Sea.
In November, a Chinese bulk carrier, yi peng 3It was suspected of severing two fiber-optic data cables with their anchors in Swedish waters. China refused to allow the Swedish prosecutor to board the ship, which has since departed the Baltic.
last year, BalticConnector A gas pipeline connecting Estonia and Finland was damaged. Ten months later, China said a Hong Kong-registered ship had sustained damage in the typhoon. Finland was skeptical of entry.
Estonia has called for international maritime laws to be updated to protect infrastructure.
“The situation we have now in the Baltic Sea, where anchors are falling several times in a row – this cannot happen by accident,” Estonian Justice Minister Lisa Pakosta told Reuters.,These types of situations are not normal not only for our region, but also for other regions of the world. so, [given] “With the technological advances that we have, we think it is a good idea to look at international law to make these investigations more streamlined.”
NATO said on Friday it would increase its presence in the Baltic Sea. The alliance conducted maritime exercises in the Baltic early last month in a show of force amid rising tensions with Moscow.
However, formulating a response to unconventional — also known as hybrid — attacks is complicated, said Charlie Salonius-Pasternak, an analyst at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.
“If states start making explicit allegations against other state actors, it would probably be very unsatisfying to just take it on the chin and be flexible in the long run,” he told VOA. ,[But] If you give credit or blame someone, will you sharpen the scope? And what are you going to do about it? Because you obviously cannot use the same ‘retaliatory tools’ as were used against Russia and China. At least not yet, I guess.”
Estonian officials said it could take until August to repair the damage to the Estlink 2 cable. The Estonian Navy and Swedish Coast Guard have increased surveillance patrols in the area.
