OSLO (Reuters) – Finnish police said on Sunday they had found footprints stretching for tens of kilometers along the floor of the Baltic Sea, where a tanker carrying Russian oil is suspected of breaking a power line and four telecommunications cables with their anchor.
The Eagle S, registered in the Cook Islands, was boarded by Finnish police and coast guard officials on Thursday and sailed towards Finnish waters where the crew of the seized tanker are being questioned.
Baltic Sea nations have been on high alert after a series of cuts to power cables, telecommunications links and gas pipelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. NATO said on Friday it would increase its presence in the region.
At midday on Wednesday, a break occurred in the 658 megawatt (MW) Estlink 2 power cable between Finland and Estonia, leaving only the 358 MW Estlink 1 linking the two countries, grid operators said. They said Estlink 2 may not be back in service before August.
Finnish police suspect that the Eagle S caused the damage by dragging its anchor along the seabed.
Investigators have identified a “drag trail” but have not yet found a missing anchor, Sami Paila, tactical leader and detective chief inspector at Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, said in a statement.
“The runway is tens of kilometers long,” Paila said.
Photos taken of the Eagle S on Friday showed the ship lost its port anchor.
Finland’s customs service believes the ship is part of a “shadow fleet” of old tankers used to evade sanctions on Russian oil exports.
The Kremlin said on Friday that Finland’s seizure of the ship did not worry it much.
Russia has denied involvement in any of the previous incidents of damage to Baltic infrastructure.