Finnish police suspect that the Cook Islands-flagged ship Eagle S damaged the EstLink 2 power cable, law enforcement officials said on Thursday.
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The EstLink 2 power transmission line between Finland and Estonia went offline on Wednesday, Finnish electricity grid company Fingrid reported. Police, in turn, said they were looking into the involvement of a foreign cargo ship in its shutdown.
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“Police and border guards stopped a 230-metre Cook Islands-flagged oil tanker. There is reason to suspect that the vessel… damaged an EstLink power cable, but we suspect other cables were also damaged,” Police Chief Ilkka Koskimäki said.
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As law enforcement officers clarified, we are talking about the Eagle S vessel. According to the police, it damaged the cable with an anchor. At this stage, the case is being investigated as aggravated assault. The criminal investigation is led by the Central Criminal Police.
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As the police clarifies, customs is also conducting a preliminary investigation into violations of sanctions legislation. Finnish customs claims without evidence that the ship Eagle S, suspected of damaging the cable, is allegedly part of the so-called “shadow fleet”, allegedly engaged in transporting Russian energy resources.
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There are two electrical connections between Estonia and Finland. Electric cable EstLink 1 with a capacity of 350 MW was launched in 2006, and EstLink 2 with a capacity of 650 MW in 2014. The latter consists of converter stations in Estonia and Finland and more than 170 kilometers of direct current lines, of which about 145 kilometers are laid under water.
