FINLAND MOVES TANKER SUSPECTED OF DAMAGING UNDERSEA CABLES

Port authorities in Finland have moved an impounded tanker closer to the port in Porkkalanniemi, Kirkkonummi on the Gulf of Finland. It’s suspected that the oil tanker has damaged undersea cables.

Authorities boarded the vessel registered in The Cook Islands. Once on board, the Finish coast guard official took command of the Bessel and sailed it to Finnish waters.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Finland has been on high alert as a string of power cable, telecom links and gas pipeline outages took place.

NATO said it plans to boost its presence in the Baltic Sea region.

Reuters reports that Finnish police believe the Eagle S may have caused the damage to undersea cables the previous day by dragging its anchor along the seabed.

The Helsinki police department released a statement on Saturday giving details about the operation: “The police began an operation to transfer the Eagle S tanker from the Gulf of Finland to Svartbeck, an inner anchorage near the port of Kilpilahti.”

Customs services in Finland believe the ship forms part of what is called a “shadow fleet” of old tankers being used to evade sanctions on the sale of Russian oil.

Russia has always denied involvement in any of the Baltic infrastructure incidents.

Image credit: Cyprus Mail