EAGLE S

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Latest news

Charges against senior officers considered

Finnish prosecutors are considering pressing charges against three senior officers the 'Eagle S', which is suspected of damaging undersea power and telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea, police and the prosecutor said on June 13, after the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation has concluded its investigation into the damage. The three senior officers were suspected of aggravated criminal mischief and interference with telecommunications. All three crew denied any wrongdoing. A lawyer for tj3 United Arab Emirates-based Caravella LLC FZ, the owner of the 'Eagle S', said he could not comment on behalf of the crew as he does not represent them. He had previously said the ship’s alleged damage to undersea equipment happened outside of Finland’s territorial waters and therefore Helsinki lacked jurisdiction to intervene.

Police completed investigations, repairs progressing faster than anticipated

The police investigators have completed the examination of the 'Eagle S' dragging its anchor and damaging critical undersea infrastructure. The cable operators Fingrid and Elering reported that they will be able to restore commercial service at the end of June. Both the preparatory and repair works have progressed well, and there have been no setbacks. The construction of the first repair joint was completed on May 30, and construction of the second started early in June The repair work on EstLink 2 was progressing faster than planned ,and the electricity interconnector will return to commercial use on June 25, about three weeks ahead of the originally anticipated mid-July date. The section of the cable that was damaged has successfully been cut out, with about a one-kilometer-long spare cable being used to connect the undamaged sections. The works were being aided by favourable sea conditions. The authorities had suspected the shadow fleet product tanker, that was operating in the Russian oil trade for the damage. The tanker was missing one of its anchors which was later retrieved from the seabed. Teams found indications that the anchor was dragged along the seabed for over 100 kilometers, severing the power link and four undersea telecommunications cables. The police were working on the theory that the action was “gross sabotage and gross disruption” of the power and telecommunications cables. Under the Finnish law, aggravated sabotage can carry significant prison sentences, especially when it involves deliberate damage to national infrastructure. Disruption of telecommunications traffic, if deemed aggravated, is also treated as a serious criminal offense. The prosecutors have received thousands of pages of information, and it will take two to three months to review the details of the investigation and make a determination. The attorney general will ultimately decide if they proceed with an indictment and trial. The captain and the first and second officers of the 'Eagle S' remained under suspicion and have been ordered to remain in Finland. Originally, nine crew members were detained, but the others were released in March along the with the vessel. The prosecutors will have to determine if there is evidence that it was an international act to damage the cables. Following the release of the vessel, the Finland and Estonia utility companies Fingrid and Elering said they would sue the ship’s owner to cover repair costs. They had agreed to the release of the tanker, as the trial could last up to five to six years. The companies are covering the cost of the cable repairs which could end up costing €60 million. A tentative preliminary trial date is set for late August or early September should prosecutors decide to proceed with the case.

Repairs of EstLink 2 to last until mid of July

Repair work on the subsea power line EstLink 2 that runs between Finland and Estonia and was damaged by the 'Eagle S', will start in May and is expected to return to commercial use on July 15, the Finnish power grid operator Fingrid said on April 16. A new cable was being installed on the seabed to replace the existing one over a distance of around one kilometer (0.62 miles). Implementing such extensive repair work has required detailed planning and necessitates a specially equipped vessel for the task. The work was being carried out by Nexans. After the incident, the Finnish authorities had seized the tanker, which was carrying Russian oil in the Baltic Sea, on suspicion it caused the outage of the undersea power cable as well as four internet lines.