Finnish Commandos Seize Russia-Linked Ship After Undersea Cable Cut

Finland has seized the ship which is being accused of cutting of an undersea cable connecting electricity to Estonia, allegedly on behalf of Russia, given that the vessel was carrying Russian oil. Finnish authorities and Western officials have described the damage to the Estlink 2 electricity cable as the result of “aggravated criminal mischief”.

EU officials have characterized the incident as part of Russia’s hybrid warfare against NATO, with a European Commission statement describing the cable severing as “the latest in a series of suspected attacks on critical infrastructure.”

The vessel in question was observed traversing the same area where the cable damage occurred near in time to the incident. Four additional telecom cables were disrupted – one linking Finland and Germany and three between Finland and Estonia.

Finland’s coast guard boarded the suspect vessel on Thursday:

Finnish police said in a statement that the coastguard crew boarded an oil tanker in Finnish waters early on Thursday. Authorities named the vessel as the Eagle S, and said it was registered in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific.

When it was detained, the ship was sailing from Russia’s Saint Petersburg to Port Said in Egypt, according to online marine tracking website, MarineTraffic.

According to MarineTraffic, the ship was owned by United Arab Emirates-based vessel management company, Caravella.

The European Commission in its statement additionally accused the Eagle S ship of being part of Russia’s energy sanctions-busting ‘shadow fleet’.

“The suspected vessel is part of Russia’s shadow fleet, which threatens security and the environment, while funding Russia’s war budget,” it said. “We will propose further measures, including sanctions, to target this fleet.”

There are initial reports from European sources alleging the discovery of Russian intelligence-linked surveillance equipment found onboard the vessel:

“Hi-tech” Russian signals intelligence equipment was reportedly carried by the tanker Eagle S, currently in custody after reportedly cutting the Estlink-2 cable in the Baltic, per Lloyd’s List. “They were monitoring all Nato naval ships and aircraft,” Lloyd’s List was told.

Finnish Special Forces board and take over a ship in “Konflikti” miniseries.

Very similar action was seen on EAGLE S vessel on Christmas Day. pic.twitter.com/qmVKbLjB5f

— Tomi (@TallbarFIN) December 27, 2024

Data from the ship-tracking website MarineTraffic shows the vessel slowed down at the time the 658 megawatt (MW) Estlink 2 power interconnector was disrupted. The tanker was transiting the Baltics on its way from St. Petersburg to Egypt at the time, on Christmas day.

MarineTraffic data also shows the Finnish Border Guard’s patrol vessel Turva escorted the tanker to waters off Porkkalaniemi, a peninsula on the Gulf of Finland, on Wednesday night, before it was boarded and seized by Coast Guard commandos the next day.