OSLO: After boarding a tanker carrying Russian oil earlier this week on suspicion of damaging four telecom cables and an underwater power line, Finnish officials announced on Saturday that they are bringing the impounded tanker closer to port. NATO announced on Friday that it would increase its presence in the Baltic Sea, which has been on high alert since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 due to a series of disruptions of gas pipelines, communications connections, and power cables.
A Finnish coast guard crew took possession of the Cook Islands-registered ship, which officials have christened the Eagle S, and sailed it to Finnish waters on Thursday, according to a coast guard official. According to Finnish authorities, the Eagle S may have damaged underwater cables the day before by pulling its anchor over the ocean floor. The Helsinki police department stated in a statement on Saturday that the police had started an operation to move the Eagle S tanker from the Gulf of Finland to Svartbeck, an inner anchorage close to the port of Kilpilahti.
It further stated that this would be a better location for conducting investigations. According to Finland’s customs department, the ship is a member of an antiquated tanker “shadow fleet” that is being used to circumvent sanctions on the supply of Russian oil. On Friday, the Kremlin stated that it was not particularly concerned by Finland’s detention of the ship.
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