Finnish police said on Sunday they had found tracks stretching dozens of kilometers to the bottom of the Baltic Sea where a tanker carrying Russian oil is suspected of having snapped a power line and four telecommunications cables.
Cook Islands registered eagle s The ship was boarded by Finnish police and coast guard officers on Thursday and escorted into Finnish waters where the crew of the seized tanker are being interrogated.
The Baltic countries are on high alert after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 disrupted supplies of power cables, telecommunications links and gas pipelines. NATO said on Friday it would increase its presence in the region.
The 658-megawatt (MW) Estlink 2 power cable between Finland and Estonia broke on Wednesday afternoon, leaving only the 358-MW Estlink 1 connecting the two countries, grid operators said. He said Estlink may not return to service before August 2.
Finnish police suspect eagle s Damaged his anchor by dragging it on the seashore.
Investigators have identified a “dragging track” but have not yet found a missing anchor, Sami Pella, the strategic leader and detective chief inspector of Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, said in a statement.
“This track is dozens of kilometers long,” Pela said.
photos taken from eagle s On Friday, it was shown that the ship’s port side anchor was missing.
Finland’s customs service believes the ship is part of a “shadow fleet” of older tankers being used to evade sanctions on Russian oil exports.
The Kremlin said Friday that Finland’s seizure of the ship was of little concern to it.
Russia has denied involvement in any incidents of damage to previous Baltic infrastructure.