Finland-Estonia Underwater Power Cable Cut: Helsinki Claims Sabotage Possible
09:23 GMT 26.12.2024 (Updated: 10:25 GMT 26.12.2024)
© Photo : Yle/Lehtikuva
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Two telecoms cables in the Baltic Sea linking Sweden and Denmark similarly sustained damage last month, while a fault was detected in the C-Lion1, a submarine cable connecting Finland and Germany, in late November.
Finland is weighing the possibility of sabotage following damage to an underwater power cable between the Nordic country and Estonia on December 25, which resulted in a disruption of electricity supply, according to Finnish public broadcaster Yle.
At least two vessels were spotted in the vicinity where the cables are located, claimed Arto Pahkin, the head of operations of the Finnish electricity grid.
Screenshot of map showing Eastlink 1 and 2 under the Gulf of Finland.
© Photo : Aurora Ferm / Yle, MapCreator, OpenStreetMap
The high-voltage power transmission link stopped working on Wednesday due to an unknown malfunction. Finnish police said they were investigating the possible involvement of a foreign cargo ship.
"We have several lines of investigation ranging from sabotage to a technical fault, and nothing has been ruled out so far. At least two vessels were moving near the cable at the time of the incident," Pahkin was quoted as saying by the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper.
The EstLink 2 cable, which transmits electricity to Estonia, experienced a power cut at 12:26 PM local time (10:26 GMT), as confirmed by Fingrid. This left only the EstLink 1 cable operational, but with a reduced capacity of 358 megawatts compared to the 658 megawatts being transmitted prior to the disconnection.
The outage is one of a string of subsea incidents involving cables and pipelines.
❗️The only submarine cable connecting Finland and Germany has allegedly been deliberately cut and its communications broken
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) November 18, 2024
Finnish state-owned company Cinia announced a fall offshore cable cut Monday afternoon. So far, the cause has not been determined.
The C-Lion1 cable was… pic.twitter.com/Y1MK23WgFj
The underwater C-Lion1 data cable connecting Finland and Germany and running near the Nord Stream gas pipeline was severed in November, in Sweden's special economic zone.
👮♀️'TWO SUSPECTS IDENTIFIED' – JENS ROMMEL ON NORD STREAM INVESTIGATION
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) November 30, 2024
Two suspects in the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines have been identified, German Prosecutor General Jens Rommel said on Saturday.
Check our thread to learn more👇🧵 pic.twitter.com/XAaEbVs0Ku
The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, built to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, were devastated by explosions in September 2022 that Russia classified as an act of international terrorism.
While the United States has long been identified as the primary suspect in the sabotage, Western media has peddled the narrative that a group of rogue Ukrainian operatives were to blame.
20 November, 15:35 GMT
