Estonia begins naval patrols to protect energy cables after suspected sabotage | Estonia

Estonia has begun naval patrols to protect a cable that supplies electricity from Finland after another cable was allegedly sabotaged on Christmas Day, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said.

“We have decided to send our navy near Estlink 1 to defend and secure our energy connection with Finland,” he posted on X.

The Estlink 2 submarine cable was disconnected on Wednesday, just over a month after two telecommunications cables were cut in Swedish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea.

Finnish authorities said Thursday they are investigating suspected “sabotage” of an oil tanker that left a Russian port.

The ship Eagle S, which sails under the flag of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific, was en route to Port Said in Egypt.

“It is currently believed that this is a Shadow Fleet ship and the cargo was unleaded gasoline loaded in a Russian port,” said Sami Rakshit, the director general of Finnish customs.

The Shadow Fleet are ships carrying Russian crude oil and oil products that are embargoed due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Police suspect that the oil tanker’s anchor may have damaged the power cable.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on Thursday: “The damage to critical underwater infrastructure has become so frequent that it is difficult to believe that these are accidents or just bad maneuvers at sea.”

Dragging an anchor on the seabed could hardly be considered an accident, Tsahkna added.