Foreign Ship Suspected in Undersea Power Cable Damage in Baltic Sea

Finnish police are currently investigating whether a foreign ship was involved in the damage of an undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia. This investigation comes in the wake of a sudden outage that occurred on Wednesday, raising concerns about potential acts of sabotage in the Baltic Sea region.

The incident has left the 658-megawatt Estlink 2 power interconnector offline, with only the 358-megawatt Estlink 1 currently operational between the two countries. Operator Fingrid has confirmed that the outage began at midday local time on Wednesday, prompting a thorough investigation by authorities.

In a statement, Finnish police announced that they are working closely with the Border Guard and other agencies to unravel the chain of events surrounding the incident. While the police have not disclosed the name of the foreign ship under suspicion, they are focusing their efforts on determining its potential role in the damage to the undersea power cable.

Recent years have seen a spate of outages affecting critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, including power cables, telecom links, and gas pipelines. While some incidents have been attributed to technical malfunctions and accidents, others have raised suspicions of deliberate sabotage.

In a related development, Swedish authorities are leading an investigation into the breach of two Baltic Sea telecom cables last month, with speculation that sabotage may have been a factor. Similarly, Finnish police are continuing their probe into the damage inflicted on the Balticconnector gas pipeline and several telecom cables last year, believed to have been caused by a ship dragging its anchor.

The Baltic Sea region has been a hotspot for infrastructure disruptions, with the 2022 bombing of the Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream gas pipelines still under investigation by German authorities. These incidents underscore the vulnerability of undersea infrastructure to external threats and highlight the need for enhanced security measures in the region.

As the investigation into the undersea power cable damage continues, authorities are working diligently to uncover the truth behind the outage and hold accountable those responsible for disrupting vital connections between Finland and Estonia.

(Source: Reuters – Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Chris Reese)