HELSINKI – NATO announced on December 27 that it would increase its presence in the Baltic Sea following suspected sabotage of an undersea power cable and four internet cables. In response, Estonia has launched a naval operation to protect a parallel electricity link.
On December 26, Finland seized a ship carrying Russian oil on suspicion of causing the outage of the Estlink 2 undersea power cable, which connects Finland with Estonia, and of disrupting fiber optic lines. Finnish President Alexander Stubb confirmed that Finland had requested support from the transatlantic military alliance.
“We have agreed with Estonia, and we have also communicated to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, that our wish is to have a stronger NATO presence,” Stubb stated at a news conference.
Mark Rutte posted on social media platform X that “NATO will enhance its military presence in the Baltic Sea,” but did not provide further details. A NATO official declined to elaborate.
Sweden’s coast guard has increased surveillance of ship traffic, deploying aircraft and vessels, and coordinating with other nations. The Kremlin downplayed the significance of Finland’s seizure of the ship, and Russia has previously denied involvement in Baltic infrastructure incidents.
Estonia’s navy is currently guarding the operational Estlink 1 power cable. Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna emphasized the importance of protecting critical undersea infrastructure, noting that such incidents have become too frequent to be mere accidents or poor seamanship.
The Estlink 2 outage, which began at midday on December 25, has left only the 358MW Estlink 1 linking Finland and Estonia. Grid operators indicated that Estlink 2 might not be back in service before August.
Finnish investigators suspect that the seized ship, registered in the Cook Islands and named the Eagle S, caused the damage by dragging its anchor along the seabed. Video and photos published by Finnish daily Ilta-Sanomat showed the Eagle S with a single anchor chain stretching into the sea, while the port side anchor chain was missing.
The Finnish customs service believes the ship is part of a “shadow fleet” of aging tankers used to evade sanctions on Russian oil sales. Finnish police are investigating the Eagle S for “aggravated criminal mischief” and have questioned crew members.
The power cable outage will not prevent the planned decoupling of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from a Soviet-era power grid shared with Russia and Belarus, according to Estonia’s grid operator Elering. However, the breach is likely to increase power prices in the Baltic countries in 2025.
Swedish police are still investigating the November breach of two telecoms cables and have named a Chinese ship traveling from Russia as a possible culprit. Separately, Finnish and Estonian police continue to probe the 2023 damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline and several telecoms cables, involving another Chinese vessel arriving from Russia.