Finland seizes Russian oil tanker suspected of cutting submarine cables

An underwater power cable that runs between Finland and Estonia was turned off on Christmas Day. Finland is almost certain that 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 which was accidentally spotted passing over the EstLink 2 submarine cable as it stopped working. according to the Financial Times.

per The Guardianthe incident happened at 12:26 p.m. local time on Wednesday, and Arto Pahkin, head of operations at Finland’s electricity grid, immediately said sabotage could not be ruled out. Finnish authorities also confirmed that damage was caused to at at least three other cablespotentially part of the same incident.

This led to the capture of the Eagle S, an oil tanker registered in the Cook Islands but believed to belong to Russia. The ship’s tracking data suggests it was carrying oil from Russia to Egypt, but it apparently left room to cause some chaos along the route. Authorities believe the ship’s anchor, which could not be found on the ship, was used to cut the cables.

Authorities believe Eagle S is part of Russia shadow fleetwhich the country has used since the beginning of its war with Ukraine to avoid Western sanctions. The fleet consists of old, rickety ships that Russia has concealed its ownership of using a variety of techniques, including labyrinthine management structures, frequent cargo transfers between ships, falsified information, disruption of the identification system and other schemes. The country is believed to operate approx 600 ships as part of its off-the-record oil business. As many of these ships carry oil and are poorly maintained, they often violate modern safety standards and disregard regulations, resulting in further damage including oil spills.

The cable cut on Christmas Day is just the latest in a series of incidents in which undersea cables connecting NATO countries have been cut. Last month, two fiber optic cables in the Baltic Sea – one between Finland and Germany and the other connecting Lithuania and Sweden –were cut off. They were also believed to be the work of Russia’s shadow navy, which has a habit of hanging out near critical infrastructure in the Baltic and North Seas. according to the New York Times.

While attacks on these cables have not yet resulted in a tangible disruption, it has led to growing concern about how this underwater 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. This is relative an easy attack to executeas most of the cables are as thick as a garden hose and are exposed on the seabed. Countries are exploring additional protections for these key parts of connectivity to prevent future attacks.