The detained tanker with Russian oil was planning larger-scale sabotage, - Reuters.

Finnish investigation: tanker Eagle S planned to inflict larger damage on infrastructure in the Baltic Sea

The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation reported that the crew of the detained tanker Eagle S, which was carrying Russian oil, intended to cause more damage to critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.

According to Reuters, this was stated by the head of the investigation.

As a result of the investigation, the tanker, detained on December 26, 2024, had already managed to damage the Estlink 2 power line between Finland and Estonia, as well as four telecommunications cables. These damages were inflicted by trailing the anchor along the seabed over a distance of more than 100 kilometers.

'There was an almost immediate threat that other cables or pipelines related to our critical underwater infrastructure could be damaged,' - said Risto Lohi, the head of the investigation.

According to Lohi, the next targets of the crew were the Estlink 1 energy cable and the BalticConnector gas pipeline, which connect Finland and Estonia.

According to the investigation report, the circle of suspects has expanded - the ninth crew member has been banned from leaving Finland. Previously, such a ban was imposed on eight out of 24 crew members. The captain of the vessel is a citizen of Georgia, while the rest of the crew consists of citizens of India and Georgia.

It should be noted that this is not the first case of damage to underwater infrastructure in this region. Finland and other Baltic countries are investigating a similar incident involving the Chinese freighter Yi Peng 3, which is attributed to the damage of two underwater fiber-optic cables in November last year.