Finnish Coast Guard Storms and Boards Russian Ship Linked to Estlink 2 Sabotage

The Finnish Coast Guard intercepted and boarded the Russian vessel ‘Orel S’ within Finnish waters following suspicions of its involvement in an attack on the Estlink 2 undersea power cable. The ship’s captain has emerged as the primary suspect in the incident, reported Visegrád 24 on December 26.

Finnish border guards escorted the vessel to the coast of Porkkala.

The Cook Islands-flagged vessel was carrying oil from Russia to Egypt and is part of Russia’s shadow fleet. The tanker was spotted in a place where a cable was laid, the vessel slowed down noticeably when it was found to be interfering with Estlink 2.

The attack, which occurred on December 25, disrupted the power supply between Finland and Estonia, knocking the 658-megawatt Estlink 2 cable offline. Only the older Estlink 1 cable, with a capacity of 358 megawatts, remains operational between the two countries, leaving the energy link strained.

Earlier, reports emerged that during the December 25 disruption of the Estonian-Finnish undersea power cable EstLink 2, the Hong Kong-flagged container ship Xin Xin Tian 2 was reportedly passing overhead while en route from St. Petersburg.