Tanker Eagle S detained for Finland-Estonia power cable damage

Finnish authorities suspected the Eagle S, a tanker registered in the Cook Islands for its involvement in the rupture of the Estlink 2 submarine power transmission cable between Finland and Estonia, official sources said.

The electricity transmission cable has been cut in the sea area in Finland's exclusive economic zone in the Gulf of Finland, about 55 km south of Loviisa on Wednesday.

At present, the freighter Eagle S, which was carrying fuel as cargo is suspected to be involved in the incidents and the vessel is under the control of the Finnish authorities southeast of the Porkkala cape, said Finnish Border Guard in a press release on Thursday.

The Border Guard is also providing mutual assistance to the Police in carrying out a technical investigation of the scene. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is investigating into the incident.

At this stage, the suspected offence is investigated as aggravated criminal mischief, said police in separate press release on Thursday.

The police are also looking into other possible damages in the maritime area.

The Helsinki Police Department and the Border Guard have conducted a tactical operation on the vessel.

The authorities have taken investigative measures on the vessel, with access there provided by the Finnish Border Guard and the Defence Forces helicopters.

For the purposes of the criminal investigation, the police are working closely and exchanging information with Estonian authorities.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo at a press conference on Thursday said that he had contacted Baltic Sea allies, and that President Alexander Stubb had reached out to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The Finnish national electricity transmission grid operator, Fingrid in a press release on Thursday said that preparations for the repair work on the connection have begun.

The repair work is estimated to take several months.

Authorities are investigating the sequence of events that led to the damage to the submarine cable.

Finland has electricity transmission connections to Estonia, Sweden, and Norway.

EstLink 2 is the electricity transmission connection between Finland and Estonia, with a transmission capacity of 650 megawatts.