The Estlink-2 undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia was severed on Wednesday, prompting an investigation into the cause. The outage occurred at 12:26 p.m. local time (10:26 GMT).
Finnish officials, including Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, confirmed that electricity supplies in Finland remain unaffected, while Estonian authorities also assured adequate power capacity.
One vessel under investigation is the Cook Islands-flagged oil tanker Eagle S, which crossed the cable at the exact time of the failure. The ship exhibited unusual behavior, losing speed shortly before crossing the cable and performing erratic maneuvers in shallow waters before regaining normal operations.
The tanker is now stationary in international waters about 50 kilometers southwest of Helsinki, where Finnish authorities are believed to have detained it.
Another vessel, the Chinese-flagged Xin Xin Tiang, had passed over the cable earlier but does not show the same suspicious movement patterns. This ship is linked to a previous incident involving its sister vessel, NewNew Polar, which damaged the Balticconnector gas pipeline in October 2023.
BREAKING:
The undersea power cable Estlink 2 between Finland and Estonia has been destroyed.
The Chinese vessel Xin Xin Tiang was sailing over it when it happened
Xin Xin Tiang is a sister vessel of NewNew Polar which destroyed the undersea gas pipeline Balticconnector in 2023 pic.twitter.com/JV9MlsA90u
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) December 25, 2024
Finnish and Estonian authorities have launched a joint investigation into the incident. Finnish Prime Minister Orpo emphasized the need for vigilance and noted that sabotage has not been ruled out.
The severing of Estlink-2 follows recent disruptions to Baltic undersea infrastructure. In November 2024, two undersea data cables connecting Finland, Germany, Lithuania, and Sweden were cut.
Earlier incidents include the September 2022 explosions that destroyed sections of the Nord Stream gas pipelines and the October 2023 damage to the Balticconnector pipeline.
