Finland boards Russian-linked oil tanker after undersea power and internet cables cut
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An oil tanker transporting oil to Russia, which is suspected of severing power and internet cables in the Baltic Sea, has been seized by Finnish authorities. The ship, named by authorities as the Eagle S, was boarded by a coastguard crew that took command and sailed the vessel to Finnish waters, said Helsinki Police Chief Jari Liukku.
"From our side we are investigating grave sabotage," said Robin Lardot, director of the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation. According to our understanding, an anchor... has caused the damage," he added. The Finnish customs service said it had seized the vessel's cargo and that the Eagle S was believed to belong to Russia's so-called shadow fleet of ageing tankers that seek to evade sanctions on the sale of Russian oil.
The Eagle S, registered in the Cook Islands, was suspected of causing the outage of an undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia on Wednesday. It is also being investigated after three internet lines were severed and a fourth damaged, according to Finnish transport and communications agency Traficom.
Both the Finnish and Estonian governments held emergency meetings on Thursday to assess the situation, they said in separate statements. Undersea power cable suffers outage as Baltic Sea countries on edge over series of disruptions. Russia accused of escalating hybrid attacks in Europe after Baltic Sea telecoms cables cut.
