Finland releases tanker suspected of undersea cable damage

Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation has released LR1 tanker Eagle S, saying its investigations have "reached a stage where the authorities have been able to cancel the seizure". 

The tanker will leave Finland’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone under the control of the Border Guard, the National Bureau of Investigation said.

"As the criminal investigation conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation, including the forensic investigation on board Eagle S, has progressed, there are no longer grounds for continuing the seizure of the tanker. Therefore, the seizure was cancelled on 28 February 2025. As far as the criminal investigation is concerned, the tanker is not prevented from continuing its passage to leave Finland’s territorial waters," the authorities said.

Three of the tanker’s crew, however, will remain in Finland under a travel ban. Travel bans were lifted for another five crew members, and the Finnish authorities said a criminal investigation is continuing, as are interviews of the crew members. The investigation concerns "aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with communications", and authorities say they are aiming to conclude the criminal investigation by the end of April.

The tanker was seized after Finland’s transmission system operator Fingrid reported on 25 December that the Estlink 2 power cable between Finland and Estonia may have been damaged.

A Finnish police special intervention unit and the special intervention unit of the Border Guard roped down from helicopters to take control of the tanker on the night between 25 and 26 December. 

Finnish authorities escalated their investigation into 2006-built, 74,000-dwt Eagle S shortly after the initial inspection by authorities revealed the vessel’s anchors had been displaced.

The Finnish Border Guard stated during its initial inspection that the tanker’s anchors were not in their designated positions, prompting concerns they may have been used to rupture the 170-km-long Estlink 2 subsea data and communication cable that runs between Finland and Estonia. The cable serves as an essential link for internet connectivity and data transfer across the region.

According to the preliminary investigation, there was sufficient reason to believe the damage was caused by Eagle S’s anchor, and Finnish authorities took swift measures to survey the seabed and ensure the vessel remained in Finland, accessible for inquiries. Investigators from the Finnish Border Guard and the National Bureau of Investigation collaborated on the case. Officials have confirmed they are also working with international stakeholders to assess the extent of the damage and its potential implications for regional communications and security.

The incident is one of a series of similar instances of commercial vessels involved in severing subsea cables in several places, with several incidents in the Baltic Sea, where critical infrastructure has faced growing threats since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 

In late February, Taiwan’s coast guard detained a Chinese-crewed cargo vessel after an undersea cable was ’severed’, and Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation began an inquiry into a separate incident of suspected cable damage to a Finnish cable in the Baltic Sea discovered in Swedish waters on 19 February 2025.

On 22 February, the European Commission launched a dedicated plan to protect subsea cables in the region. 

In late January 2025, Navibulgar denied intentionally causing damage to a Baltic Sea cable with its Vezhen bulker, which was seized by Swedish authorities. Following an investigation, Swedish prosecutors absolved the crew of any wrong-doing and released the vessel, noting two of the vessel’s anchor-locking mechanisms were not operating and the third was hit by a wave, causing the anchor on the vessel to drop and drag for 24 hours.  

Other notable incidents that have disrupted undersea infrastructure include the rupture of the Balticconnector pipeline that connects the natural gas networks of Finland and Estonia, which was linked to a Chinese-owned box ship. The damage to the Balticconnector pipeline came a year after damage was found to the Nord Stream gas pipeline, following underwater explosions. That mystery remains officially unsolved. Russia was an immediate target of speculation but has denied responsibility. Officials in the US and in Germany were quoted in media reports as saying some of the evidence may point to a Ukraine-linked group.

These events and repeated reports of unauthorised vessel activity near vital energy and data installations have heightened regional security tensions and underscored the vulnerability of vital maritime infrastructure in the area, with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) setting up naval operation Baltic Sentry in response.