Official EU announcements or press releases

Finland Detains Russian Tanker 'Eagle S' Over Estlink 2 Cable Damage on Christmas Day

Dec 26, 2024, 04:30 PM

Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo announced an investigation into an undersea power cable outage on the Estlink 2 interconnector connecting Finland and Estonia after an incident on December 25, Christmas Day. The outage occurred at 10:26 AM GMT, reducing the cable's capacity from 1,016 megawatts to 358 megawatts. Finnish authorities are probing the incident as possible sabotage, considering it aggravated criminal damage and aggravated sanctions violation. Finnish police are investigating the role of a foreign ship in the damage. On December 26, Finnish authorities boarded and detained the tanker "Eagle S", registered under the Cook Islands flag and part of Russia's shadow fleet. The tanker, carrying Russian oil from Russia to Egypt, was significantly slowed down while passing over the cable area and was possibly missing an anchor. Finnish customs seized the vessel's cargo. In addition to the power cable, four undersea data cables between Finland and Estonia were damaged. Finnish officials have not ruled out sabotage and are treating the incident seriously. Repairing the power cable may take months. The European Union is contemplating further sanctions against Russia's shadow fleet in response to the incident. NATO has indicated readiness to assist Finland and Estonia amid concerns over the security of critical infrastructure. The investigation is ongoing, and Finnish authorities are working closely with their Estonian counterparts to determine the cause of the outage and assess the extent of the damage.