Crossed the cable – may be part of the “shadow fleet”

 
 

Finland
Ship crossed the cable – connected to Putin’s shadow fleet

Emil Forsberg

Updated 23.24 | Published 23.02
 

The tanker Eagle S passed Estlink 2.

Then the power went out.

The ship is identified as part of Russia’s infamous shadow fleet.

On Christmas Day, Finnish grid operator Fingrid announced that it had lost contact with the Estlink 2 power cable that runs between Finland and Estonia.

Control room manager Arto Pahkin said earlier in the day that sabotage could not be ruled out and stated that two ships in the area were of interest.
Welcome to a new world of hybrid warfare

Data from ship tracking site Marine Traffic shows that the Cook Islands-flagged tanker Eagle S passed the cable at 11.26, at the same time that the cable stopped working.

The ship is at rest in the Gulf of Finland, next to it is the Finnish coast guard ship “Turva”.

Located in the Gulf

The ship is currently at rest in the Gulf of Finland, next to it is the Finnish coast guard ship “Turva”.

According to the British magazine Lloyds List, the Eagle S is part of the Russian shadow fleet that Vladimir Putin has invested 10 billion dollars in to develop, according to documents from the European Parliament.

By registering the ships in different shell companies, they have managed to circumvent EU sanctions and continue to transport Russian oil through sensitive waters.

 

         

“Potential oil disaster”

But many of the ships are in poor condition and have been banned from driving, which has led experts to warn of a potential oil disaster.

– It’s like driving your car on the highway without license plates and insurance. Everyone wants the police to stop you. But it is as if we had an international highway between Helsinki and Turku where the police are not allowed to stop you, Magnus Winberg, a lecturer at the Aboa Mare Maritime School, previously told  Yle.

Swedish and Danish authorities have tried to find ways to stop the ships, and last week a new sanctions package was hammered through in which 52 ships and 113 people were sanctioned.

– I am very proud of Sweden's active contribution to important sanctions listings of the Russian shadow fleet. We will continue the work of listing additional ships that are part of the shadow fleet, said Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard at the time.