The Eagle S oil tanker anchors near the Kilpilahti port in Porvoo, on the Gulf of Finland, on January 2, 2025. The Cook Islands-registered ship is suspected of the disruption of the Finland-Estonia electrical link Estlink 2 on December 25, 2024. Reuters
THE WATCH STAFF
NATO allies reacted swiftly and decisively to counter sabotage threats in the Baltic Sea in late December 2024 and early January 2025 after a vessel associated with Russia’s sanction-evading fleet cut undersea cables, at least the fourth time such an incident has occurred in a little more than a year. Finland seized the vessel and Sweden sent specialized maritime assets to assist in the investigation. Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte condemned the apparent attack, pledging to beef up deterrence. “NATO will enhance its military presence in the Baltic Sea,” Rutte announced in a December 27, 2024, social media post.
Finnish investigators say the Eagle S, a ship registered in the Easter Islands and sailing from Russia to Egypt, appeared to have dragged its anchor along the seabed, severing four cables ferrying data and electricity between Estonia and Finland on December 25, 2024. The power cable will likely not be repaired until August, according to Reuters. The Estonian Navy is guarding a remaining cable link between the two countries while Finnish authorities have detained the vessel and crew. After similar incidents in the region since 2023, many Baltic and Nordic countries have pointed to Russia as the likely culprit. They say it uses ships from its “ghost fleet,” a collection of aging, often unregistered ships, and frequently turns off their navigation instruments to avoid sanctions. Russia has managed to export about 70% of its oil and gas through this fleet since Western allies sanctioned those industries after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. “If there is a threat to the critical undersea infrastructure in our region, there will also be a response,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on social media. Tsahkna said such incidents are so frequent that it is hard to believe they were all caused by accidents or poor seamanship, according to Reuters.
Sweden announced it would send a submarine rescue ship to aid in the investigation. “With their unique expertise, the Swedish armed forces are contributing to helping Finland shed light on what happened,” Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a January 3, 2025, statement. “Since the discovery of these cable breaks in the Baltic Sea, we have said that Sweden stands ready to help our neighbors,” Kristersson said. “The security situation is serious, and we want to strengthen security and cooperation with neighbors and allies.”
The Baltic Sea is a vital link between Europe and the Arctic and is a flashpoint for tensions over the Ukraine war. In October 2023, a Chinese ship, the Newnew Polar Bear, damaged the Balticconnector natural gas pipeline linking Estonia and Finland. In November 2024, a Chinese ship, the Yi Peng 3, was detained by Danish and other NATO naval forces after damaging several undersea cables connecting Finland, Germany, Lithuania and Sweden. “Nobody believes that these cables were severed by accident,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said, according to The New York Times newspaper. Pistorius said he didn’t think the cables were accidentally damaged. “Therefore, we must state — without concrete knowledge of who was responsible — that this was a hybrid action,” he said. “And we must assume, without being certain, that this was sabotage.”