"Well done, #Finland!" 
#Finland’s resolute and swift handling of #Estlink 2 sabotage is a “turning point” for #NATO’s response to #Russian hybrid warfare – #The_Economist
The #Estlink_2 cable, which supplied energy from #Finland to #Estonia via the #Baltic_Sea, was severed in late December, when an oil tanker #Eagle_S, travelling from #St_Petersburg, dragged its anchor along the seabed for “dozens of kilometers”. This was at least the third instance since October that important
"Estlink 2"-Ausfall: Schäden am Rumpf des verdächtigen Öltankers
Nach dem Schaden am Unterseekabel "Estlink 2" steht die Besatzung des Öltankers "Eagle S" unter Sabotageverdacht und wird weiter verhört. Nun veröffentlichte Unterwasserbilder zeigen Schäden am Rumpf des Schiffes, die von der Ankerkette stammen sollen.
FAQ: Schäden an Unterwasserkabeln in der Ostsee
In der Ostsee häufen sich Schäden an Unterwasserkabeln. Wie ist der Stand der Ermittungen im aktuellen Fall von "Estlink 2"? Warum steht der Verdacht der Sabotage im Raum? Und welche Rolle spielt Russland?
Finland is flying investigators to the Eagle S, and is interrogating the crew. The officials have confiscated the communications devices and storage media (cellphones, tablets, laptops, external storage devices I presume) and will perform #forensics on them. Several crew members are suspected of aggravated criminal mischief. If convicted the penalty ranges from 2 to 10 years imprisonment.
Image released by the Finnish Police about the Eagle S boarding. Two helicopters were used, one Finnish Defence Forces and another Border Patrol (AS332-H215 Super Puma in the image). The helicopters were crewed by Police and Border Guard Special Intervention Units. The units were armed in case of resistance, but none was met.
Estland will Unterseekabel mit Marine schützen
Nach dem Ausfall des Unterseekabels EstLink 2 will Estland die verbliebene Leitung EstLink 1 mit der Marine schützen. Auch die NATO hat eine höhere Militärpräsenz in der Ostsee angekündigt. Ob es Sabotage war, wird untersucht.
Finnland vermutet Sabotage hinter Schäden an Unterseekabeln
Ein Strom- und mehrere Datenkabel wurden in der Ostsee beschädigt. Finnland geht von einem Sabotageakt aus. Im Fokus der Ermittlungen: Ein Öltanker, der zu Russlands sogenannter Schattenflotte gehören könnte. Von Julia Wäschenbach.
It appears that Russia has figured out a secondary function for their grey fleet: Hybrid warfare.
They create a "shipping company" to some country outside of the sanctions. The company likely has only a single asset: the vessel itself. The vessels are very old and in poor condition and have no insurance. A crew is hired to operate the vessel.
Normally these vessel are used to circumvent the sanctions in place, for example to sell Russian oil.
As a recent new development it appears that these vessels are also used to perform hybrid operations that target undersea cables. Prime example is the Baltic sea that is relatively shallow, and the cable locations are well documented. There has been multiple recent incidents involving ships that "accidentally" drag their anchors and cause damage.
The operation likely also involves finding crew members willing to take a compensation for performing the malicious task of dragging the anchor on the seabed. This is made easier by the fact that the crew can claim ignorance or bad seamanship. The threat to these persons is very limited, as the Nordic countries have very lenient legal systems. It is unlikely that they would be incarcerated for a significant amount of time, even if found guilty of sabotage.
The payout vs the investment is significant. The damage caused by the disruption of the undersea #telecommunications and electricity cables likely far exceeds the value of the ship or the cargo combined. The involved ship can just ignore any requests to stop or allow for inspections, as long as they are in international waters.
Considering there is a really high barrier in disrupting international shipping, anyone willing to abuse the system can continue to do so until significant changes will be made.
In addition to the Estlink 2 electrical link, four fiber optic data cables have been broken.
When Finnish patrol ship Turva asked Eagle S to raise its anchor, there was nothing at the end of the cable.
Eagle S is the primary suspect, no other ships are being investigated. It belongs to the russian shadow tanker fleet.
Political leadership avoids blaming russia.
It appears that the cable has been cut deliberately. Finnish Border Guard ship Turva has stopped the tanker Eagle S suspected to be involved in the incident. https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:712379/mmsi:518998865/imo:9329760/vessel:EAGLE_S
YLE news: https://yle.fi/a/74-20133516 (in english)
Some conflicting info of another ship which may better fit the breakage timeline. However I'm going to bed now and quit speculating about this.
RT @skykiss
https://sfba.social/@skykiss/113715673223154589
#Estlink
Aftonbladet reports that Xin Xin Tian 2 is sister ship to Newnew Polar Bear which is suspected of having damaged the Balticconnector pipeline last year.
https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/xmwoJn/misstanker-sabotage-efter-kabelbrottet-tva-fartyg
#Estlink #Balticconnector
Hong Kong flagged Xin Xin Tian 2 was on top of the Estlink 2 cable at the time it was severed for as of yet unidentified reason. The ship had just left St Petersburg destined to Port Said, Egypt.
https://www.iltalehti.fi/kotimaa/a/cc1795e3-40d3-4494-91c7-527c2040dbd7
#Estlink
Estlink 2, the higher capacity of two electric grid links between Finland and Estonia, is down again. Malicious activity can not be ruled out at this time.
https://yle.fi/a/74-20133467
#Estlink
#BalticConnector #GasPipeline afternoon edition:
- Finland continues investigation, no need for further assistance at this time
- Estonia investigates the fiber optic cable damage
- weather is challenging, investigation will take days
- Seismic sensors registered a small "thump"
- There was a russian cargo vessel anchored in vicinity over the weekend
- Estonia has readiness even if similar incident damaged FI-EE #Estlink electric power cables - but would effect prices
