OSLO (Reuters) – Finnish police said on Sunday they had found tracks stretching for dozens of kilometers at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, where a tanker carrying Russian oil is believed to have used its anchor to break through a power line and four telecommunications cables.
The Cook Islands-registered Eagle S was boarded by Finnish police and coast guard officers on Thursday and sailed into Finnish waters, where the crew of the seized tanker are being questioned.
Baltic Sea states are on high alert after a series of failures of power cables, telecommunications links and gas pipelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. NATO said on Friday it would increase its presence in the region.
According to network operators, there was a break in the 658 megawatt (MW) Estlink 2 power cable between Finland and Estonia at midday on Wednesday, leaving only the 358 megawatt (MW) Estlink 1 connecting the two countries. They said Estlink 2 may not return to service until August.
Finnish police suspect that the Eagle S caused the damage by dragging its anchor on the seabed.
Investigators have identified a “slow trail” but have not yet found a missing anchor, Sami Paila, tactical chief and chief criminal inspector at the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation, said in a statement.
“The route is dozens of kilometers long,” Paila said.
Photos taken from the Eagle S on Friday showed the ship was missing its port anchor.
The Finnish Customs Service believes the ship is part of a “shadow fleet” of old tankers used to evade sanctions on the export of Russian oil.
The Kremlin said Friday that Finland’s seizure of the ship had little concern for it.
Russia has denied involvement in any of the previous incidents involving damage to Baltic infrastructure.
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