Written by Essie Lehto and Anna Ringström
HELSINKI – NATO said on Friday it would increase its presence in the Baltic Sea after this week’s alleged sabotage of undersea power cables and four internet links, while alliance member Estonia announced it would build parallel power grids. A naval operation was launched to protect it.
Finland on Thursday said it had seized a Russian oil-laden vessel suspected of causing a power outage to the Estlink 2 undersea power cable that connects Estonia with fiber-optic lines, and on Friday said it had requested NATO assistance.
Baltic countries are on high alert for sabotage following a series of outages to power cables, communications lines and gas pipelines since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but submarine equipment is also at risk of failure and accidents. has been done.
“We have reached an agreement with Estonia, and we have also conveyed to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte that it is our desire to strengthen NATO’s presence,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb told a news conference. .
Rutte said he had discussed the Finnish-led investigation with Stubb and expressed support for it.
“NATO will strengthen its military presence in the Baltic Sea,” Rutte wrote on social media platform X.
The Kremlin said on Friday that Finland’s seizure of a Russian oil carrier was of little concern to the Russian government. The Russian government has in the past denied any involvement in the Baltic Sea infrastructure disaster.
Estonia has announced that its navy has been deployed to protect the Estlink 1 submarine cable, which is still in operation.
“If there is a threat to critical undersea infrastructure in our region, there will be a response,” Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsachna told the X program.
Tsakna said on Thursday that damage to underwater facilities in the region is now so frequent that it is difficult to believe that they are all simply caused by accidents or poor ship handling.
The incident shows the need to update centuries-old maritime law to clearly outlaw damage to undersea infrastructure, the country’s justice minister told Reuters on Friday.
The 658-megawatt Estlink 2 outage will begin at noon local time on Wednesday, leaving only the 358-megawatt Estlink 1, which connects Finland and Estonia, the two countries’ grid operators announced.
Finnish investigators believe the seized vessel, a Cook Islands-registered ship named Eagle S, may have caused the damage by dragging its anchor along the ocean floor, a move that echoes similar incidents in recent years. There is one.
shadow fleet
Finland’s president said it was necessary to stop the Eagle S to prevent further destruction.
“Had it remained anchored on the ocean floor, it would have caused even more damage,” Stubbe said.
Finnish customs authorities said they believe the ship is part of a so-called “shadow fleet” of aging tankers seeking to evade sanctions on Russian oil sales.
But Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, asked about Eagle S on Thursday, said it was too early to say whether Russia played any role in damaging the cable.
Finland’s Fingrid and Estonia’s Elling power grid operator expect Estlink 2 to be repaired for several months and not expected to return to service until August 1, 2025.
Eling said the power outages could lead to higher winter power prices, but would not prevent Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from separating from the joint power grid with Soviet-era Russia and Belarus, scheduled for February. He said no.
Lithuania said in a statement on Friday that its navy had stepped up surveillance and patrols in the Baltic Sea following the incident and would support efforts by Estonia and Finland.
Swedish police continue to lead a criminal investigation into last month’s breach of two telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea, naming a Chinese ship traveling from Russia as a possible culprit.
Separately, Finnish and Estonian police are continuing to investigate last year’s damage to a Baltic Connector gas pipeline and several communication cables that were named for another Chinese ship that arrived from Russia.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to the text.
