Finnish commandos boarded and seized an oil tanker Thursday that is believed to have temporarily disabled the Estlink-2 power line connecting Finland and Estonia. The vessel in question, the Cook Islands-registered Eagle S, was traveling from St. Petersburg to Port Said, Egypt. The Eagle S is thought to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” that smuggles Russian crude oil to market.
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Submarine telecom and power cables are a vital part of Northern Europe’s energy and information grid.
The issue with cable defense is that they are EVERYWHERE!
Not only that, but they are marked on every navigation chart so that ships don’t accidently hit them.
Unfortunately, this makes them very well marked targets. pic.twitter.com/LNCFLAgIbV
— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴☠️ (@mercoglianos) December 26, 2024
This is the fourth time power or telecom cables crossing the Baltic have been damaged by deliberate actions. In October 2023, a Chinese container ship damaged a gas pipeline and two telecom cables between Finland and Estonia by dragging an anchor across them; see Chinese Container Ship Suspected of Deliberately Damaging Estonia-Finland Gas Pipeline. In November 2024, a Chinese ship disabled a 745-mile cable linking Germany and Finland and a 135-mile cable linking Lithuania and the Swedish island of Gotland, again by dragging an anchor across them. In this case, the Danish Navy detained the ship but it doesn’t appear to be in any danger of consequences: see Denmark Detains Chinese Ship Suspected in Cable Cutting Incident. Authorities from Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Denmark were finally allowed to board the vessel after a month-long standoff, but they were not allowed to investigate. They are only allowed to observe the Chinese investigation. This goes to my point yesterday as to why we must reach some sort of agreement with Denmark on Greenland because the Chinese own too much of Denmark’s economy and, I believe, government to be relied upon to keep China from controlling that vital Arctic region; see Trump Trolls Canada, Denmark, and Panama for Christmas but Behind the Fun He Makes Serious Points.
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Eagle S became a prime suspect when AIS data was examined shortly after Estlink-2 was disabled.
EAGLE S made moves like this on top of the Estlink 2 cable..
There are no sensible explanations for these moves, no wonder why it’s currently under investigation as main suspect for sabotage.
Finnish Border Guard is keeping the ship on Finnish territorial waters. pic.twitter.com/3ibl7IRcs0
— Tomi 🇺🇦🇫🇮 (@TallbarFIN) December 26, 2024
The vessel movement of Eagle S is very irregular and corresponds with the location and time of the damage to the Estlink 2 cables. pic.twitter.com/IpEUq13n3k
— Kamsarmax (@cashsarmax) December 25, 2024
In addition to the AIS data showing Eagle S making very curious maneuvers over Estlink-2 and the absence of one of its anchors, the documentary evidence has the profile of an oil smuggler.
The Cook-Island crude oil tanker #EagleS has been boarded by Finnish authorities due to its suspected involvement in cutting cables between Finland and Estonia.
The ship is part of the Dark Fleet hauling Russian oil outside the normal transportation network.
Over the last… pic.twitter.com/pMfrmjgxiM
— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴☠️ (@mercoglianos) December 26, 2024
The tanker #EagleS has done several actions to classify it in the Dark Fleet.
1️⃣ It shifted classification from the American Bureau of Shipping to the Indian Register of Shipping
2️⃣ It is no longer listed as insured by the UK P&I Club, which is one of the dozen clubs that… pic.twitter.com/TpGMgBf8fc
— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴☠️ (@mercoglianos) December 26, 2024
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Unlike the timid approach used on Chinese vessels, the Eagle S was quickly boarded, and Finnish police began questioning the crew.
Exclusive footage of Finnish SOF boarding the “Eagle S” which is suspected of damaging the power transfer cable “Estlink 2” pic.twitter.com/FWvF2FjFlB
— FinnGear (@FinnishGear) December 26, 2024
The Finns have also announced their findings.
Finnish police have published photographs of the tanker “Eagle S” from the “shadow fleet of Russia”, which is suspected of being involved in damaging underwater communications in the Baltic Sea.
The Finnish customs service said it had seized the vessel’s cargo.
Repairing the… https://t.co/RcA3tozucm pic.twitter.com/HVgX3kUkbD
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) December 26, 2024
Have no doubt how seriously Finland is taking this incident: Here’s the assembly of law-enforcement authorities holding a press conference on a national holiday. 1/ https://t.co/nOfP9Fqy2B pic.twitter.com/4qwUhtMJMg
— Teri Schultz (@terischultz) December 26, 2024
The obvious collaboration of Russian-controlled and Chinese-registered vessels to damage the telecom and power grid running beneath the Baltic Sea threatens NATO and the EU. NATO must take this hybrid war being waged underwater seriously and develop equally serious strategies for combatting it. What can’t be tolerated is China stepping in to block investigations and legal actions by affected countries.
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