Another suspected sabotage incident has occurred in the Baltic Sea, a month after the incident between Sweden and Denmark. This time, the EstLink 2 undersea power cable, which connects Finland and Estonia, was damaged. This time, too, Russian aggression is suspected. The fault caused a partial power outage, but, as Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo stated, "it will not affect electricity supplies for the Finns." Operator Fingrid reported that the break in the EstLink 2 cable, which sends electricity to Estonia, occurred at 12:26 local time (11:26 Italian time).
Initially, suspicions of sabotage fell on the Hong Kong-flagged vessel Xin Xin Tian 2. This vessel is the sister ship of the Newnew Polar Bear, which last year caused the Balticconnector gas pipeline leak and damaged the data cable between Finland and Sweden. The Xin Xin Tian 2 belongs to the Hainan Yangpu shipping company, part of the Torgmoll Group, a Chinese logistics company with close ties to Russia.
However, within hours, attention shifted to the Cook Islands-flagged tanker Eagles S. Naval charts showed that the Eagles S's course passed over the cables at the damaged location just before the blackout, at 12:26 local time (11:26 Italian time).
Comments (3)
I hope the authorities will investigate these incidents thoroughly. It is important to understand what is happening and whether there is a connection between the events.
I am also concerned about the situation. Infrastructure security is paramount, and these attacks could have serious consequences for the region.
The article talks about another sabotage in the Baltic Sea, which is very worrying. The power cables are vital for energy, let's hope there are no more problems. It's strange how ships are involved in these events.