Computers laptops and listening devices and recording. On board the Eagle Sthe Russian tanker accused of cutting the EstLink2 submarine electricity cable that connects Finland with Estonia, and which has been detained in Finland since the 26th, was allegedly traveling the latest in spy technology. This has been confirmed by an anonymous source Lloyd’s Listthe oldest shipping magazine.
According to the British media, which mentions an anonymous source with direct participation in the ship, the tanker accused of sabotage was equipped with special transmission and reception devices that were used to monitor naval activity, something unusual within a ship of these characteristics (it is two decades old) and that caused repeated blackouts since it consumed more energy than normal. This equipment was stored on the bridge of the ship or in the highest part. “Russian, Turkish and Indian radio operators monitored all NATO ships and aircraft,” the source said. The seabed war is served.
According to Danish television D.R.some of the data collected by these types of vessels ends up in a secret Russian deep sea unit which depends on the Russian Ministry of Defense and the investigation to which the tanker is being subjected in Finland seems to corroborate that hypothesis. The anonymous source would also have given details about a person other than the ship that had embarkedin addition to the fact that huge suitcases would have been used to introduce all the detailed equipment. Regarding this, he points out that the crew would have been “threatened with death” not to speak. “They have replaced the captains when they have raised the issue,” he said. But the Eagle S has not been the only one.
In addition to the detained vessel, another oil tanker from the same group of owners, the Swiftsea Rideralso had similar equipment installed. In the words of the aforementioned publication, the Eagle S, with the flag of the Cook Islands, and the Swiftsea Rider, with the flag of Honduras, are two of the 26 tankers linked to Russia with “opaque structures connected to three related ship managers, including two sanctioned by the UK government 12 months ago for supporting Vladimir Putin’s war machine.” This is the so-called Russian ghost fleet.
The anonymous source would have provided Lloyd’s List in June with at least 60 confidential documents about the Eagle Swhich was allegedly responsible for transporting gasoline from Russia to Egypt, including the investigation report that described several safety deficiencies discovered during an inspection carried out while it was anchored in Danish waters last June.
Within the framework of the sabotage investigation, this Monday it was announced that Finnish investigators have found suspicious drag marks in the area where the EstLink2 is located and which registered failures on Christmas Day, one before the arrest of the merchant. “The trail extends several dozen kilometers“explained one of those responsible for the investigations, Sami Paila. The authorities are trying to determine if the Eagle S freighter, intercepted after the incident, dragged its anchor to damage the cable.
Although this is not the first incident of this type that has been recorded in the area at a time when concern is growing about the security risks that the russian ghost fleetused by Russia to avoid international sanctions on its main sources of income.
In November, two underwater telecommunications cables also appeared damaged in the Baltic. One of them connects Germany with Finland and the other goes from Lithuania to Sweden. The affected connection was the C-Lion1, which connects Helsinki with Rostock. It is an infrastructure of high capacity fiber optic with a length of 1,173 kilometers. This cable is the only direct connection of its kind between Finland and Central Europe. The other sabotaged cable, operated by Arelion, a Swedish telecommunications company, measures 218 kilometers and manages approximately a third of Lithuanian Internet capacity.
“More forceful actions”
Then, Finland, Sweden, Lithuania and Germany They have already warned that Europe’s security is threatened by Russia’s war against Ukraine and “the hybrid war of malicious actors“. Germany and Finland released a joint statement in which they specified that “safeguarding shared critical infrastructures is vital for the security and resilience of our societies.” But before there had already been other sabotages: these are the cases of the damage suffered by a gas pipeline and submarine cables in 2023 and the 2022 explosions of the North Sea gas pipelines.
Given the situation, the High Representative for Foreign Policy of the EU, Kaja Kallas, promised this Monday that The Twenty-Seven will adopt “stronger actions” to reduce the “risks” involved in this type of boat. “The Russian ghost fleet threatens the environment and finances Russia’s war budget,” Kallas warned in an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt. In this sense, the former Estonian prime minister also pointed out that the latest “sabotages” are not “isolated incidents”, but are part of “a deliberate pattern” that aims “cause damage to digital and energy infrastructure” from across the continent.
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