NBI grills Eagle S tanker's crew members

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Monday continued investigation into the damage of the Estlink 2 submarine power transmission cable between Finland and Estonia took place on December 25, said police in a press release.

The NBI interrogated the crew members of the Eagle S tanker, the suspect of the cable damage to find out an overall picture of what has happened on the board.

“The authorities have taken care of the maintenance of both the vessel and the crew during the investigation,” said Detective Chief Inspector of NBI Elina Katajamäki.

In addition, the police have seized devices related to the vessel's passage and analysed the data contained in the devices.

The subsea investigation, however, was suspended on Monday due to difficult weather conditions.

“The operation relating to the events in the Gulf of Finland will go on for several more days,” said Heikki Porola, Superintendent of the Helsinki Police Department.

The NBI is responsible for criminal investigation into the ruptured sea cables. The suspected offences are aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference of communications, of which the latter was filed on 28 December.

Ruptures caused to telecommunications cables are suspected meet the essential elements of the offence of aggravated interference of communications.

It is possible that the offences will become more specific or even change as the criminal investigation progresses.

The criminal investigation is in its initial stage and it may take several weeks or months to complete.

Police on December 28, transferred the Eagle S tanker, the suspect of Estlink 2 submarine cable damage from the Gulf of Finland to the Svartbeck inner anchorage near Porvoo.

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 on December 25.

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.