Anchor of the tanker “Eagle S” was recovered from the bottom — it could have damaged the underwater cables

The anchor of the “Eagle S” vessel, suspected of having ties to the Russian shadow fleet and of having severed the submarine cables between Finland and Estonia in the Gulf of Finland, was found at the bottom of the sea.

This was reported by Yle with reference to the Swedish Navy, which confirmed this information.

The anchor has already been handed over to Finland for further investigation. However, the Swedish Navy has not said where exactly the anchor was found or whether it is intact.

The anchor was raised from a depth of approximately 80 meters with the help of the Swedish vessel HMS Belos.

According to the Swedish Defence Forces, HMS Belos has both a diving watch and a small submarine that can reach the bottom of the sea. The ship is still in Finland but will return to Sweden today.

What happened

On Christmas Day, on the afternoon of December 25, the “Estlink 2” submarine power cable between Finland and Estonia broke.

Two ships were passing overhead at the time of the incident. Finnish police suspect the “Eagle S”, a vessel en route from Russia to Egypt, was involved. It slowed down significantly when the cable broke. It is believed the cable broke due to an anchor the ship was dragging along the seabed.

The tanker “Eagle S” belongs to Russiaʼs shadow fleet. Spy equipment was found on it.

Police suspect eight members of the “Eagle S” crew of vandalism and interference with telecommunications processes.

A lawyer representing the shipping company “Caravella”, which owns the “Eagle S”, insists that "this is a seizure" because he has not received a decision to detain and arrest the vessel in Finnish territorial waters.

Although law enforcement officials previously noted that the tanker is evidence in a criminal case.

What preceded

An undersea telecommunications cable between Finland and Germany, which runs alongside other important undersea infrastructure, including gas pipelines and power cables, was severed on November 18, 2024. A cable between Lithuania and Sweden was also reported to have been severed. Both incidents came just weeks after the United States detected increased Russian military activity around major undersea cables.

Germany immediately declared that these incidents were sabotage and a hybrid attack. The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, citing sources, wrote that the crew of the Chinese bulk carrier “Yi Peng 3” is suspected of severing communication cables in the Baltic Sea.

Investigators believe the crew may have intentionally severed two important data cables while dragging the anchor along the bottom of the Baltic Sea for more than 160 kilometers.

The “Yi Peng 3” has a two-man crew: a Chinese captain and a Russian sailor. European investigations are now focused on whether the captain was recruited by Russian intelligence. Law enforcement officials say it is “extremely unlikely” that the captain did not see the dropped anchor, which slowed the ship for hours and tore cables in its path.

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