Night operation: Task force was prepared for battle

Finland
Finland's midnight operation - was ready for battle on Eagle S

Emil Forsberg

Updated 22.31 | Published 22.07

At 00.28, the Finnish task force arrived at Eagle S by helicopter.

At that time, they were preparing for battle, according to sources to Helsingin Sanomat.

- Serious damage can be done with terrorist intent, says prosecutor Jukka Rappe.

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

Shortly afterwards, sabotage was suspected and attention was turned to the Cook Islands-flagged ship Eagle S, which had passed the cable just when the signal disappeared.

The ship, which was on its way to Greece, was then stopped by the Finnish Coast Guard.

At midnight, Finnish police launched an operation to board the ship.

Two helicopters carrying police officers from the "Björngruppen", the Finnish task force, and personnel from the coast guard took off from Helsinki airport and landed on the ship's deck at 00:28, the night before Thursday, according to Helsingin Sanomat.

Police are investigating Eagle S. Photo: Finnish Police

During the night, the authorities also discussed whether it could be a terrorist crime and when the task force boarded the ship, they were prepared for resistance, the newspaper writes.

- It was an option we considered with the police in the early hours of the night. Aggravated vandalism is something that, according to the Criminal Code, can be done with terrorist intent, says prosecutor Jukka Rappe.

- When there have been several cable damages, we considered the issue of causing serious fear. However, we came to the conclusion that it is more likely to be a case of aggravated vandalism.

The police and coast guard were able to quickly take control of the ship, and on Thursday, it was announced at a press conference that a preliminary investigation into serious damage had been opened.

“All cooperation with the ship’s personnel went smoothly,” Border Guard Chief Juha Hietela told Iltalehti.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo pointed out the connections between the Eagle S and the Russian “shadow fleet” that sails the seas loaded with Russian oil, despite sanctions, and said that NATO has been contacted.

“Our most important task is to find effective means, more means, to stop this shadow fleet,” he says.

The police suspect that the ship’s anchor caused the damage to the electrical cable and said that only the chain was left when it was to be hoisted.

Petteri Orpo says that NATO must secure critical infrastructure to prevent sabotage in the future. But he also praised the authorities’ efforts.

“This is a strong message to the sailors that we will intervene.”

Photo: Finnish Police