Investigation into damage of Finland-Estonia link finds dragging marks on seabed

The investigation into the damage that occurred on Christmas day on the Eastlink 2 undersea cable between Finland and Estonia in the Baltic Sea has found a dragging track on the seabed that is dozens of kilometers long, the Finnish police reported.

To remind, Finland’s transmission system operator (TSO) Fingrid reported to the authorities on December 25 the possible failure of Estlink 2, prompting an immediate investigation into the chain of events of the incidents as well as whether a foreign ship is involved in the damage.

A day later Finland seized the Cook Islands-flagged tanker Eagle S, which according to initial reports may have had an unsecured anchor, on suspicion the vessel caused the outage and damaged internet lines.

“With the underwater operations, we have been able to identify the dragging track at the seabed from the beginning to the end. The track is dozens of kilometres in length. For the time being, the possible location where the anchor came off has not been established,” said Tactical Leader, Detective Chief Inspector Sami Paila from Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Photos taken of the Eagle S show the vessel’s hull has been damaged.

The police, in cooperation with other authorities, transferred the Eagle S tanker to the Svartbeck inner anchorage near Porvoo, said to offer a better option for carrying out investigative measures. Devices related to the vessel’s passage have also been seized, and their data is being analyzed.

According to the Finnish police, the NBI is currently questioning the tanker’s crew members to create an overall picture of what happened on board, with the questioning carried out in good cooperation.

The criminal investigation may take several weeks or months to complete.