Yle: The Russian Baltika cable was damaged in the Gulf of Finland, repairs are underway
The Russian Baltika telecommunications cable, which connects St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad, was damaged in the Gulf of Finland. Presumably, the incident occurred on October 8, reports Yle.
It is noted that the Russian telecom operator Rostelecom notified Finland on October 12 about the damage, since the cable partially runs through the country’s economic zone.
According to the Finnish Ministry of Labor and Economic Development, the company has negotiated with the authorities to begin repair work.
Russia began repair work accompanied by the coast guard
At the moment, the ship “Rescuer Karev” is working at the scene of the incident. Gulf Coast Guard (SLMV) on its X page (formerly Twitter) published Photo from the scene of the cable damage.
The department noted that they monitor the implementation of the law on the exclusive economic zone, including regarding its use in the western part of the Gulf of Finland, that is, where repair work is being carried out.
There is nothing unprecedented about this. As we know, from time to time, marine cables break for one reason or another and need to be repaired.
According to Deputy Commander of the Gulf of Finland Coast Guard Mikko Hirvi, the duration of repair work depends on weather conditions, but it will definitely take several days. He emphasized that the sailors will not suffer from the repair work, and the Finnish side will take care of the normal movement of ships in the area.
Related materials:
Damage to the Baltika cable may be associated with an emergency on the Balticconnector gas pipeline
Mikko Hirvi in an interview with a Finnish publication Helsingin Sanomat said that the cable could have been damaged on October 8, that is, at the same time when the emergency occurred on the Balticconnector gas pipeline.
Earlier, Finnish police discovered an object near a damaged gas pipeline, later identified as a ship’s anchor, which likely caused the incident. Investigators suggest that the same anchor could have damaged the telecommunications cable between Sweden and Estonia.
The main suspect in the Balticconnector accident is the Chinese ship, flying the Hong Kong flag, Newnew Polar Bear, whose course was right near the places where the gas pipeline and the Swedish-Estonian telecommunications cable were laid. According to the deputy head of the coast guard of the Gulf of Finland, the same anchor could have caused damage to the Russian cable.
As we know, due to the accident on the gas pipeline, an anchor or something else must have passed along the bottom, and this may also have caused the cable to break. From the point of view of supervisory work, this is not particularly relevant for us.
The Finnish Central Criminal Police refused to comment on the connection between the damage to the Baltika and the incident on the Balticconnector gas pipeline. “We are aware of this, but I will not comment on it. We have been informed about the renovation work and at this stage we are not commenting on anything at all in terms of our investigation,” said Finnish law enforcement spokesman Risto Lohi.
#important #Russian #communications #cable #damaged #Gulf #Finland #suspected #accident