Finland seizes Russian oil tanker suspected of cutting underwater cables

An undersea power cable running between Finland and Estonia was disconnected on Christmas Day. Finland is pretty sure Russia is to blame. On Thursday, Finnish authorities boarded an oil tanker that is part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” used to evade sanctions and happened to be seen passing over the EstLink 2 underwater cable while he stopped working. according to the Financial Times.

In order The Guardianthe incident happened at 12:26 pm local time on Wednesday, and Arto Pahkin, the head of Finnish operations for the electricity network, immediately said that sabotage cannot be ruled out. Finnish authorities have also confirmed that the damage has been caused at least three other cablespotentially part of the same incident.

This led to the seizure of Eagle S, an oil tanker registered in the Cook Islands but believed to belong to Russia. The ship’s tracking data suggested it was carrying oil from Russia to Egypt, but it apparently made room to cause mayhem along the way. The authorities believe that the ship’s anchor, which could not be found on the ship, was used to cut the cables.

The Eagle S is believed by the authorities to be part of Russia shadow fleetwhich the country has used since the beginning of its war with Ukraine to evade Western sanctions. The fleet consists of decrepit old ships whose ownership Russia obscures using a variety of techniques including labyrinthine management structures, frequent cargo transfers between ships, falsified information, blackouts of the identification system and other schemes. It is believed that the country operates 600 ships as part of its off-the-books oil business. Because many of these ships carry oil and are poorly maintained, they often violate modern safety standards and ignore the rules, which result in additional damage included. oil splashes.

The Christmas Day cable cut is just the latest in a series of incidents in which submarine cables connecting NATO countries have been cut. Last month, two fiber optic cables in the Baltic Sea – one running between Finland and Germany, another connecting Lithuania and Sweden –they were cut off. These, too, were believed to be the work of Russia’s shadow fleet, which has made a habit of hovering near critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea and the North, according to the New York Times.

While attacks on these cables have not yet resulted in any tangible disruption, it has led to increased concern about how this undersea infrastructure could be targeted in future conflicts. Reports have suggested that China has used similar tactics in the past, using boat anchors to damage submarine cables. It is relatively easy attack to doas most of the cables are almost as big as a garden hose and are exposed on the seabed. Countries are exploring additional protections for these key pieces of connectivity to prevent future attacks.