Finnish police probing seven sailors over cut undersea power cables
The Finnish Border Guard’s ship Turva (front) and the oil tanker Eagle S on the sea near Porkkalanniemi. Photo / poliisi.fi
Finnish police say that seven sailors from the Eagle S tanker suspected of last week cutting an undersea power cable between Finland and Estonia are subjects of a sabotage investigation and have been banned from leaving the country.
“Seven staff members whose status in the criminal investigation is that of a suspect have been subjected to a travel ban,” Finnish police said in a statement.
On Christmas Day, the Estlink 2 submarine cable that carries electricity from Finland to Estonia was suddenly disconnected from the grid, just over a month after two telecommunications cables were severed in Swedish territorial waters in the Baltic.
Finnish authorities have been investigating the Eagle S oil tanker that sailed from a Russian port over suspected “sabotage” after it was found nearby missing its anchor.
The Cook Islands-flagged vessel is being held in Finnish waters in the Baltic Sea pending the investigation.
