Finland entered the ship suspected of sabotage in the Baltic. What he found was much worse: a spy ship for Russia

It happened on Christmas Day, when an electrical cable connecting the Finnish and Estonian systems under the Baltic Sea stopped working, as reported the Finnish power grid Fingrid. Shortly after, it was announced in a press release that the fault had been located in an underwater cable. And then all eyes focused on a suspect. It is called Eagle S, it is a ship, and what the Finnish authorities have found inside it leaves no room for doubt.

The cable and the brands. Just like the Finnish authorities have saidhave been identified drag marks of tens of kilometers at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, marks linked to an anchor and the damage to the Estlink 2 electrical cable and four telecommunications cables between Finland and Estonia.

These marks pointed to the Eagle S, an oil tanker registered in the Cook Islands and linked to the evasion of sanctions on Russian oil. Not only that. Perhaps more importantly, there are recent photos of the ship that show a revealing detail: the anchor on its port side is missing, strengthening the hypothesis that the damage was caused by dragging it along the seabed.

Finally, and after entering the interior, there are few doubts about possible sabotage.

A spy ship. According to the finnish authoritiesthe ship was equipped with advanced transmitting and receiving devices which were used to monitor NATO naval activities. This technology, anomalous for a merchant ship, consumed a significant amount of energy, causing repeated blackouts on the ship, a detail that caught the attention of maritime safety experts.

Furthermore, the seized vessel would belong to what It is called a “shadow fleet.”a set of aging oil tankers that Russia would be using to avoid international sanctions. These vessels are reportedly a key player in the Russian oil trade despite the restrictions imposed.

Modus operandi. The equipment, introduced into the Eagle S via portable suitcases along with numerous electronic devices with Russian and Turkish settings, allowed The ship will function as a spy vessel for Russia. These devices recorded radio frequencies and, upon reaching Russian territory, were downloaded for analysis, obtaining details of NATO ships and aircraft.

Furthermore, it was reported that The Eagle S dropped sensor-like devices in the English Channel during their transit, raising new concerns about the scope of their activities.

The importance of Estlink 2. The cutting of Estlink 2, which has a capacity of 658 MW, left Finland and Estonia depending solely on Estlink 1, with a much smaller capacity of 358 MW. Electricity operators estimate that Estlink 2 will not be operational again before August 2025, increasing pressure on the region’s energy infrastructure.

There is no doubt that the incident underlines the growing vulnerability of critical connections in the Baltic, a region already marked by previous sabotage of gas pipelines and submarine cables.

Geopolitical context. For all these reasons, sabotage would not be an isolated event, rather another, one more. In November, Germany reported damage to two undersea communication cables in the Baltic, and in 2022 we reported that explosions in the Nord Stream gas pipelines highlighted the vulnerability of critical infrastructure in the region. All activities that coincide with the increase in tension between Russia and Western countries after the invasion of Ukraine, which has led NATO to reinforce its presence in the Baltic Sea.

For their part, Finland and Estonia have requested support from the Alliance to protect Estlink 1, which resulted in the deployment of the patrol ship Raju by the Estonian Navy and cooperation with Finnish and NATO forces. Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced an increase in presence in the regionalthough without detailing the specific measures, and the Supreme Allied Command in Europe (SACEUR) evaluate a serious response which could include American resources, underlining, once again, the strategic importance of the Baltic in European energy security.

Image | nara, Fingrid

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