Police in Finland say Eagle S crew detained as Estlink-2 cable damage probe continues

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - HELSINKI — Police in Finland say the crew of a Russia-linked tanker suspected of damaging a power cable under the Baltic Sea have been detained indefinitely.

The Eagle S crew consists of 24 people with Finland’s Central Criminal Police imposing movement restrictions on eight.

"During interrogations and investigations, the police have tried to find out who was involved in the incident and who was responsible for the ship's course during the incident. Accordingly, the freedom of movement of eight persons is currently restricted on the basis of suspicion of a crime," said Detective Superintendent Elina Katajamäki from the National Bureau of Investigation.

"However, this number may change as the hearings continue and the circumstances become clear on an ongoing basis."

The Eagle S is suspected of damaging the Estlink-2 power cable which runs under the Baltic Sea between Finland and Estonia by dragging its anchor along the seabed.

The cable, which takes electricity from Finland to Estonia under the Baltic Sea, went down on Christmas Day but there was little impact to services, reported Finland's electricity grid operator, Fingrid.

The Helsinki police department boarded and seized the Eagle S and moved it to port in Porvoo a day later to conduction an investigation.

The Eagle S is flagged in the Cook Islands but has been described by Finnish customs and EU officials as being part of Russia’s shadow fleet of tankers shipping oil and gas in defiance of international sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine.

The aging vessels, often with obscure ownership, routinely operate without Western-regulated insurance.

Russia's use of the vessels has raised environmental concerns about accidents given their age and uncertain insurance coverage.

At the end of December, NATO chief Mark Rutte said he'd spoken to Finland's President Alexander Stubb and agreed that, "NATO will enhance its military presence in the Baltic Sea."

Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia, abandoned its decades-old policy of military neutrality and joined NATO in 2023 in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

In October 2023, in response to similar incidents, NATO and its allies deployed more maritime patrol aircraft, long-distance radar planes and drones on surveillance and reconnaissance flights, while a fleet of minehunters was also dispatched to the region.

After a high-level meeting about the incident, Stubb posted on X that "the situation is under control. We have no reason to be worried," adding that the investigation continues.

He said that Finland and Estonia had requested extra NATO help.

Countries in the region have been on alert following a string of incidents involving undersea cables and gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea since 2022.

Two data cables — one running between Finland and Germany and the other between Lithuania and Sweden — were severed in November.

Germany's defense minister said officials had to assume the incident was "sabotage," but he didn't provide evidence or say who might have been responsible.

And the Nord Stream pipelines that once brought natural gas from Russia to Germany were damaged by underwater explosions in September 2022.

Authorities have said the cause was sabotage and launched criminal investigations.

NATO had already boosted patrols near undersea infrastructure after the Nord Stream pipeline was hit. — Euronews