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MADRID Jan 15 () –
The Helsinki District Court announced this Wednesday the seizure of the anchor of the ship ‘Eagle S’, the main suspect in causing damage to the EstLink2 telecommunications cables, which connect with Estonia through the Baltic Sea.
The Finnish National Investigation Bureau (KRP) suspects that the ‘Eagle S’ deliberately dropped anchor and continued sailing through the area where EstLink2 runs, damaging four of the underwater cables.
At the beginning of last week, a Swedish vessel located the anchor of the ‘Eagle S’, which will now remain in the hands of the Finnish Justice despite the fact that the shipping company that owns the ship has demanded the annulment of this measure, according to the YLE chain.
As argued by the main lawyer of the Caravella shipping company, Herman Ljungberg, the Finnish State does not have jurisdiction to seize an anchor that is in international waters and that is not the property of a Finnish vessel.
After locating the anchor, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom) also ordered the blocking of the freighter ‘Eagle S’ after detecting more than thirty deficiencies, including some “serious”, during an inspection.
The authorities have therefore decided that the ship, flying the Cook Islands flag, will not be able to leave the port of Porvoo – where it is moored – until the deficiencies are corrected. Rectifying them will require outside help and “will take time.”
The damage to the EstLink2 infrastructure has revived fears about security in a strategic area and the authorities are keeping an investigation open to determine if it was indeed sabotage.
Finnish investigators suspect that the ‘Eagle S’ dropped anchor deliberately. In addition, the authorities have warned that the ship could be part of Russia’s so-called ‘shadow fleet’, with which Moscow evades international sanctions.
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