The Swedish navy announced on Tuesday that it had recovered the anchor of an oil tanker suspected of belonging to Russia’s “shadow fleet” and of causing significant damage to four underwater telecom cables and one power cable in the Baltic Sea on December 25.
Sweden deployed a submarine rescue vessel to assist Finland in the investigation last week.
“HMS Belos has located and lifted the anchor and handed it over to Finnish authorities,” said Swedish navy spokesperson Jimmie Adamsson in a statement to AFP.
The vessel in question, Eagle S, sails under the Cook Islands flag and is suspected of damaging the EstLink 2 electricity cable that connects Finland and Estonia.
The incident rendered the cable inoperative. Finnish police disclosed on December 29 that they had discovered a trail from the anchor extending for dozens of kilometers along the seabed.
The Finnish energy agency Fingrid has since requested that authorities seize the tanker, which remains under scrutiny. Finnish authorities have also restricted the movements of the ship’s eight crew members, barring them from leaving Finnish territory.
According to Finnish customs, the tanker is suspected to be part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” — vessels engaged in transporting Russian crude oil and petroleum products that are embargoed due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Baltic Sea IncidentEfforts to repair the damaged infrastructure are underway. Finnish telecom operator Elisa announced on Monday that two of the damaged telecom cables had been repaired, though the EstLink 2 power cable remains out of service.
Cinia, another operator, stated that a telecom cable running between Finland and Germany is expected to be repaired by January 10.
The damage to critical infrastructure has drawn widespread concern. In late December, NATO pledged to bolster its military presence in the Baltic region following a series of similar incidents since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Energy and communications infrastructure have been frequent targets in what experts and politicians describe as part of Russia’s ongoing “hybrid war” against Western nations.
The Baltic Sea is surrounded by several NATO member states, heightening the strategic importance of its waters.
In November, two telecom cables were severed on November 17 and 18 in Swedish territorial waters. A Chinese-flagged bulk carrier, Yi Peng 3, is suspected of involvement in those incidents.
As investigations continue, the recovery of the anchor and the measures being taken to repair damaged infrastructure underscore the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Baltic region.