Finland Imposes Travel Ban On Crew Of Cable-Cutting Tanker, Prepares To Inspect

Following the seizure of the Eagle S, an oil tanker that departed from the Russian port of Ust-Luga on Christmas Day and is suspected of intentionally dragging its anchor in the Baltic Sea, causing damage to submarine cables—including the Estlink 2 power cable and four telecommunications cables—Finnish authorities have imposed a travel ban on the tanker's crew and plan to inspect the vessel.

"On January 2, 2025, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom will start a control inspection" of Eagle S tanker, Sanna Sonninen, the director of the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, said in a statement, quoted by AFP News.

“Hi-tech” Russian signals intelligence equipment was reportedly carried by the tanker Eagle S, currently in custody after reportedly cutting the Estlink-2 cable in the Baltic, per Lloyd’s List.

“They were monitoring all Nato naval ships and aircraft,” Lloyd’s List was told. pic.twitter.com/vE5YDnt3y8

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) December 27, 2024

Sonninen said, "We are carrying out the inspection in a way that does not interfere with the police operations and the investigation."

The Eagle S tanker, suspected of belonging to Russia's "shadow fleet," is believed to have been involved in a gray-zone operation/ hybrid warfare by dragging its anchor for several miles. This caused the severing of the Estlink 2 power cable and four telecommunications cables.

On Tuesday, the National Bureau of Investigation Detective Chief Inspector Elina Katajamäki placed a travel ban on the crew members of Eagle S to ensure questioning can continue.

"A travel ban is a less severe coercive measure limiting personal freedom than apprehension and arrest, and it is imposed to ensure that the criminal investigation is not compromised and that the parties can be reached during the investigation," Katajamäki said, adding, "However, further information is gathered as the investigation goes on, so it is possible that the number of those subjected to a travel ban will change."

In November, the Yi Peng 3, a Chinese-registered bulk carrier, was suspected of damaging two fiber-optic data cables beneath the Baltic Sea, which connect Finland, Germany, Sweden, and Lithuania.

Here's our reporting on the Yi Peng incident:

• Baltic Undersea Data Cable 'Disruption' May Take Two Weeks To Repair

• Danish Navy Hunts Down Chinese Ship Suspected Of 'Sabotaging' Baltic Sea Cables

• NATO Flotilla Surrounds Chinese Ship Suspected Of Sabotaging EU Undersea Baltic Cables

• Swedish Police Board Chinese Bulk Carrier Suspected Of Undersea Cable Sabotage

• Chinese Ship Suspected Of Undersea Baltic Cable Sabotage Sails Off

Subsea energy and telecommunications cables have increasingly been severed across the Baltics this year, with some military experts and government officials warnings that this is a form of "hybrid warfare" by Russia and or China against the West. 

Last week, Russian news agency RIA reported that the owners of the Russian cargo ship that sank in the Mediterranean Sea claimed the explosions in the vessel's engine room were an "act of terrorism." 

Nearly three years into the Russia-Ukraine war and marking the second Christmas, Free Press' Jay Solomon recently asked: "Is World War III Already Here?"