Putin’s shadowy ‘ghost ship’ dragged anchor along seabed for 60MILES to shred cables in brazen sabotage, Finland says
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A SHADOWY Russian ship sabotaged a key power cable by dragging its anchor on the seabed for dozens of miles, Finnish authorities fear. As well as rupturing the Estlink 2 power cable in the Gulf of Finland, four other communication lines were also damaged in a suspected deliberate act of vandalism.
![[The moment Finnish police seize the Russian-linked shadow fleet tanker Eagle S]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/moment-finnish-police-seize-russian-960582617.jpg?strip=all&w=720)
Finnish police said they had found tracks along the bottom of the Baltic Sea where a tanker carrying Russian oil had sailed. The Eagle S is a Cook Islands-registered 751-ft seen as part of Russia’s "shadow" or "dark" fleet operated by Vladimir Putin to evade sanctions.
![[The EstLink 2 power cable]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/estlink-2-power-cable-960582656.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Reports say the tanker is bristling with spy equipment enabling the Russians to monitor Nato shipping and aircraft. The vessel was boarded by Finnish police and coast guard officials on Thursday and sailed into Finnish waters, where the crew of the impounded tanker is being questioned.
Anchor traces stretch more than 60 miles on the sea bed, according to Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). Baltic Sea nations have been on high alert after a string of outages of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
![[A Finnish Coast Guard vessel (R) keeps watch on oil tanker Eagle S anchored near the Kilpilahti port in Porvoo]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2024-finnish-police-border-guard-960567278.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Nato said on Friday it would bolster its presence in the region. A break in the 658 megawatt (MW) Estlink 2 power cable between Finland and Estonia occurred at midday on Christmas Day, leaving only the 358 MW Estlink 1 linking the two countries, grid operators said.
![[The moment Finnish police seized Eagle S]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/moment-finnish-police-seize-russian-960582625_2b07aa.jpg?strip=all&w=720)
