Underwater Sabotage: A Baltic Sea Timeline
had dropped to the seabed in high winds and may have struck the cable, but denied any sabotage.A Swedish prosecutor on February 3 concluded that the breach happened by accident and released the vessel.DECEMBER 2024: POWER AND INTERNET CABLESThe Estlink 2 undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia was damaged on December 25 along with four telecoms lines.Finland seized the Cook Islands-registered Eagle S tanker on suspicion it caused the damage by dragging its anchor, adding that the ship was part of a "shadow fleet" circumventing sanctions on Russian oil.The Kremlin said the ship'
Baltic States Switch from Russian to European Power Grid
The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania completed a switch from Russia's electricity grid to the EU's system on Sunday, severing Soviet-era ties amid heightened security after the suspected sabotage of several subsea cables and pipelines.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed the move, years in the planning, as marking a new era of freedom for the region, in a speech at a ceremony in Vilnius alongside the leaders of the three countries and the Polish president."These chains of power lines linking you to hostile neighbours will be a thing of the past,"
Subsea Cables "Torn Apart" by External Force, says Elisa
a strong external force, Finland's Elisa said today, adding that they had now been repaired. The cables were damaged in the Baltic Sea on Dec. 25, 2024.Finnish police seized the Eagle S tanker carrying Russian oil on Dec. 26 and said they suspected that the vessel had damaged the Finnish-Estonian Estlink 2 power line and four telecoms cables on Christmas Day by dragging its anchor across the seabed."The current suspicion is that the external force has been caused by an anchor," Jaakko Wallenius, Chief Security Officer at Elisa, which owns two of the four fiber optic lines, said
Subsea Sabotage in the Baltic Sea - a Timeline for Perspective
asked Poland to arrest a Ukrainian diving instructor accused of being part of a team that blew up the Nord Stream pipelines. Poland said the man left the country before he could be detained.OCT 2023: BALTICCONNECTOR GAS PIPE AND CABLESA subsea gas pipeline, the Balticconnector, which links Finland and Estonia under the Baltic Sea, was severed by what Finnish investigators determined was Chinese container vessel NewNew Polar Bear dragging its anchor in the early on Oct. 8, 2023. Estonian police suspect the ship of also damaging telecoms cables connecting Estonia to Finland and Sweden on Oct. 7-8, before
Drag Marks Found on Baltic Seabed After Finland-Estonia Interconnector Damage
questioned.Baltic Sea nations have been on high alert after a string of outages of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. NATO said on Friday it would boost its presence in the region.A break in the 658 megawatt (MW) Estlink 2 power cable between Finland and Estonia occurred at midday on Wednesday, leaving only the 358 MW Estlink 1 linking the two countries, grid operators said. They said Estlink 2 might not be back in service before August.Finnish police suspect the Eagle S caused the damage by dragging its anchor along the seabed.Investigators have identified
Estonia Launches Navy to Protect Baltic Sea Power Link After Baltic Sea Outages
Estonia's armed forces have launched a naval operation to protect the Estlink 1 undersea power cable in the Baltic Sea in response to the damage this week of a parallel electricity line, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on Friday.Finland on Thursday seized a ship carrying Russian oil on suspicion the vessel caused an outage of the Estlink 2 undersea power cable which, like Estlink 1, connects Finland and Estonia, and that it also damaged four internet lines.Baltic Sea nations are on high alert for acts of sabotage following a string of outages of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines
Police Looks Into Foreign Ship’s Role in Estonia-Finland Interconnector Outage
Finnish police said on Thursday they are investigating whether a foreign ship was involved in the damage of an undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia following a sudden outage on Wednesday.Baltic Sea nations are on high alert for potential acts of sabotage following a string of outages of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines since 2022, although subsea equipment is also subject to technical malfunction and accidents.The 658 megawatt (MW) Estlink 2 power interconnector remains offline following the outage that began at midday local time on Wednesday, leaving only the 358 MW
Struggles to Secure Baltic Sea Dominates NATO's 'Freezing Winds '24'
evidence that its actions were deliberate.China has said it is ready to assist in the investigation, while its ally Russia has denied involvement in any of the Baltic infrastructure incidents.The case is similar to an incident last year when the Chinese ship New Polar Bear damaged two cables linking Estonia to Finland and Sweden as well as an Estonia-Finland gas pipeline. China made similar promises to assist, but the ship was not stopped and, a year on, Finnish and Estonian investigators have yet to present conclusions.Damage to cables is not new. Globally, around 150 are damaged each year, according
Sabotage: Two Undersea Cables Cut in Baltic Sea
to repair, Cinia's chief executive, Ari-Jussi Knaapila, told a news conference.Last year a subsea gas pipeline and several telecoms cables running along the bottom of the Baltic Sea were severely damaged in an incident raising alarm bells in the region.Investigators of the 2023 cases in Finland and Estonia have named a Chinese container ship that they believe dragged its anchor and caused the damage. But they have not said whether the damage was accidental or intentional.In 2022 the Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia to Germany in the Baltic Sea were destroyed by explosions in a case that remains
February 2025
