The crew of the oil tanker Eagle S planned a series of sabotage operations in the Baltic Sea

According to the head of the investigation, Risto Lohi, the vessel was threatening to damage another energy cable, Estlink 1, as well as the BalticConnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia at the time of its detention.

There was an almost immediate threat that other cables or pipelines connected to our critical underwater infrastructure could be damaged.

He said the ninth crew member of the vessel had been placed on a list of suspects and banned from leaving the country. Finland also reported that eight of the 24 crew members were under a travel ban.

The captain of the vessel is a Georgian citizen, and the crew consists of citizens of India and Georgia.

Cable breakage in the Baltic Sea

At the end of last year, underwater communication cables between Finland and Estonia were damaged in the Baltic Sea.

After that, Finland detained the Eagle S vessel, probably a tanker of the Russian "shadow fleet", which was sailing in the area where the cable rupture occurred.

It recently became known that Finland suspects seven members of the ship's crew of aggravated vandalism. They have been banned from leaving the country.