Two of the four telecommunications cables broken in December are operational. Estlink2, the energy cable, is expected to take months to recover.
(DW) Two of the four submarine telephone and internet cables that connect Estonia and Finland via the Baltic Sea have been repaired, Finnish telecommunications operator Elisa said.
There are strong suspicions of sabotage: the Finnish authorities believe that the four telecommunications cables and one power cable were broken on purpose on December 25. Weeks earlier, other cables had been cut in the region.
With a diameter of just over two centimeters, the cables are reinforced with steel, and several layers of insulation protect the fibers inside. Some experts and politicians believe that the recent incidents against the infrastructure are part of a hybrid war between Russia and Western countries.
Ship suspected of sabotage detained in Finland
Investigators suspect that the oil tanker Eagle S, sailing under the Cook Islands flag, was responsible for the sabotage.
The Eagle S was seized and taken to a bay near the port of Porvoo in Finland, where police are collecting evidence and questioning the crew. Eight crew members have been named as suspects in the investigation.
The ship is accused of being part of Russia’s so-called “ghost fleet”, which has been transporting Russian oil products, circumventing the trade embargo imposed due to the invasion of Ukraine
Elisa’s head of security, Jaakko Wallenius, told the AFP news agency that the evidence linking the Eagle S to the site of the sabotage was “convincing”. According to Wallenius, an anchor may have been the external force that tore the cables.
Estlink 2, the power cable damaged on December 25, has not yet been repaired. Finnish operator Fingrid and Estonia’s Elering expect the work to take several months.