Several Finnish companies are asking the authorities to confiscate the Eagle S tanker to compensate for the damages, which are estimated at hundreds of thousands of euros.
Two damaged telecommunications cables connecting Estonia and Finland under the Baltic Sea have already been repaired. Jaakko Wallenius, head of security at Elisa, told AFP on Monday.
The Finnish authorities suspect the tanker Eagle S sailing under the flag of the Cook Islands to have damaged the Estlink 2 electrical cable and telecommunication cables. EU authorities admit that the damage was caused intentionally as part of a Russian hybrid operation.
On January 3, the Helsinki District Court approved the detention of the tanker by the Finnish Border Guard’s intervention unit on December 25. The ship is now moored in the port of Sköldvik as several Finnish companies demand that authorities confiscate the Eagle S tanker to compensate for damages estimated at hundreds of thousands of euros.
According to lloydslist.com, the ship had transmitting and receiving equipment that effectively allowed it to become a “spy ship” for Russia. Such high-energy equipment was highly unusual for a merchant ship. It often led to repeated blackouts, a source familiar with the matter said. with a vessel that provided him with commercial marine services until seven months ago.
The Swiftsea Rider tanker was supposed to have similar equipment installed. The Cook Islands-flagged Eagle S and the Honduras-flagged Swiftsea Rider are two of the 26 older tankers linked to Russia. They have an opaque ownership structure linked to three related ship managers. The two are sanctioned by the UK government for “supporting Putin’s war machine”.
