Finland / Estonia / 2024-12-25-fi-1
/ date of the event
On the afternoon of 25 December 2024 the EstLink 2 power link between Finland and Estonia disconnected from the grid; the fault was located in the submarine cable and repairs were estimated at several months. Finland's electricity system kept running. The same day the Cook Islands-flagged tanker Eagle S was detained. Its master and two senior officers were accused of deliberately dragging the ship's anchor some 90 kilometres along the seabed and damaging five undersea cables. This is one series of damage, not several separate attacks. The vessel is often associated with the so-called shadow fleet; that association alone is not evidence of an order from the Russian authorities. The event has no point on the map: it runs for tens of kilometres of seabed, and a Finnish court found it had no jurisdiction over the case.
unresolved
The case was looked at and not settled, or the findings are disputed or have been rejected.
Prokuratura fińska / 2025-01-10 / carrying out the act
Prosecutors accused three crew members of deliberately dragging the anchor. A first-instance court dismissed the case, finding Finnish criminal law inapplicable; the prosecutor appealed. Nobody has been convicted, and whether anyone ordered the cable damage has not been established. The vessel's association with the so-called shadow fleet is not evidence of an order from the Russian authorities.
No casualties reported.
The first-instance court dismissed the case for want of jurisdiction. The prosecutor announced an appeal to the Helsinki Court of Appeal.
Fingrid Oyj / 2024-12-26 / primary source
supports: the record, that it happened, the date, the impact
ERR News / secondary source
supports: the attribution, the record