NATO will strengthen its presence in the Baltic Sea following the outage of the Estlink 2 submarine power cable, Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Friday.
Finland on Thursday seized a ship carrying Russian oil on suspicion the vessel had caused an outage of the Estlink 2 undersea power cable linking it with Estonia and fibre optic lines, and on Friday said it had asked NATO for support.
Baltic Sea nations are on high alert for acts of sabotage after a string of outages of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, although subsea equipment is also subject to malfunction and accidents.
NATO is assisting Finland and Estonia in their investigations into possible sabotage, a spokesman for the alliance separately said.
Electricity transmission through Estlink 2 between the two neighbouring states was interrupted on Wednesday.
Suspecting sabotage, Finnish authorities detained the Cook Islands- flagged oil tanker Eagle S, the anchor of which could have been used to cause damage to the cable.
According to the EU, the vessel is part of the so-called Russian shadow fleet: tankers and other cargo ships that Russia uses to circumvent sanctions on oil transport, for example.
Network operators initially estimated that repairs to the 170-kilometre-long cable could take several months.
Other disruptions to communication cables in the Baltic Sea were also recently reported.
According to Finnish broadcaster Yle, three of them run between Finland and Estonia and one between Finland and Germany. Investigations into the incidents are ongoing.
Meanwhile, Finnish investigators are planning to examine the seabed.
Crew members of the Eagle S are also being questioned and material has been collected on board the ship, the police said. Customs also confiscated the ship’s fuel cargo.
Estonia’s Pevkur also said the sides would await the outcome of the investigations into the damages.
The move was agreed with Estonian armed forces chief Andrus Merilo and would ensure that the link will remain undamaged and operational, Pevkur said on Estonian radio.
There is heightened vigilance against possible sabotage in several countries on the Baltic Sea following the recent failures and disruptions of power cables, gas pipelines and telecommunications links.
