On December 25, there is a suspected sabotage against the power cable Estlink 2, which is at the bottom of the Gulf of Finland between Estonia and Finland. Several communication cables between the countries must also have been damaged at the same time.
The ship Eagle S quickly becomes the subject of the investigation and Finnish authorities force the ship back into Finnish waters.
– It is important that you act in this way, and you have also made adequate use of resources. They have had both Finnish ships and helicopters on site and in this way have shown that they mean business, says Hans Liwång, professor of defense systems at the Norwegian Defense Academy.
If you compare the actions in connection with the investigation against the Chinese vessel Yi Peng 3 – which was suspected of cable sabotage and was stationary between Denmark and Sweden for a month earlier this year – the course of events differs.
A tougher grip on the Baltic Sea
Several factors underlie the Finnish authorities’ power to act. In addition to the geographical conditions to act quickly in the Gulf of Finland, there is also an international commitment to act more forcefully.
According to Liwång, the more aggressive action may become the norm in incidents in the Baltic Sea.
– There is an international consensus that tougher action should be taken against suspected sabotage and the so-called Russian shadow fleet, he says.
After Finnish authorities managed to get the Eagle S into Finnish waters, Finnish police quickly boarded the vessel to secure evidence.
The operation means that the West has for the first time acted against the Russian shadow fleet linked to a preliminary investigation into suspected sabotage.
Hear Hans Liwång about the differences between the ships suspected of cable sabotage in the clip above.