Seized tanker may face legal storm over damaged power link
On Thursday, the Finnish transmission line operator Fingrid filed a request in a Helsinki court to seize the tanker Eagle S to secure potential compensation claims. It is suspected that the vessel damaged the EstLink 2 subsea power link.
According to Yle radio, similar actions are being considered by telecommunications operators whose cables—like EstLink 2—were damaged on Christmas Day.
According to the STT agency, on Friday, a court in Helsinki is set to hear a request from the shipping company's attorney and the tanker crew to overturn the Finnish law enforcement's decision to seize the ship. The Central Criminal Police formally did this on Saturday. Earlier, Finnish authorities detained the vessel in the waters of the Gulf of Finland off the Porkkala Peninsula and then forced it to anchor near an oil port in Porvoo.
Investigators suspect that the submarine cables were damaged by the tanker's anchor being dragged across the seabed. The matter is formally regarded as a serious act of vandalism, destruction of public property, and causing communication disruptions. Eagle S is approximately 220 metres long and sails under the Cook Islands flag. The vessel was on a course from St. Petersburg to Egypt with a load of Russian petrol.
Finland's customs service is conducting a separate proceeding, and the investigation concerns cargo transport that violates EU sanctions. On Thursday, Finnish Transport and Communications Agency inspectors boarded Eagle S to perform a technical condition check of the unit built in 2006.
Last Thursday, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo stated that the damage to the EstLink 2 power line is "a consequence of Russia's attack on Ukraine." It is too early, however, to directly accuse Russia, but "the shadow fleet sails on its behalf" – he admitted, answering journalists' questions.
According to the head of the Finnish government, Russian shadow fleet tankers pose "a threat to all Baltic and EU countries, so additional ways are needed to stop it." He said, "The tankers pump money into Russia's treasury and its war fund," emphasizing that currently, nearly 80 ships are on the EU list of sanctioned shadow fleet vessels, but there could be more than 400 similar units. Eagle S has not yet been listed.
Repair can take more than half a year
Finnish operator Fingrid reported the failure of EstLink 2 and the interruption of energy transmission through this connection between Finland and Estonia on Wednesday. In its opinion, the repair will take up to seven months.
The EstLink 2 power connection, maintained by Finnish Fingrid and Estonian Elering, is about 170 kilometres long, with approximately 145 kilometres running along the seabed of the Gulf of Finland between Estonian Pussi and Finnish Porvoo. The cable was commissioned in 2014. It is an important transmission link between Finland and the Baltic countries, with a capacity of over 650 MW. The currently operational EstLink 1 cable has a capacity of 350 MW.
