According to authorities, the cause of the damage to the data cable that runs across the seabed from the Baltic Sea to Finland remains unclear. The damage did indicate that it was caused by human activities.
The cable between the two EU and NATO countries, which has now been repaired, was damaged on October 8, as was the Balticconnector gas pipeline. Another submarine communications cable between Sweden and Estonia was also damaged nearby. Whether it concerns accidents or deliberate sabotage is being fully investigated.
“We have reason to believe that there is a link between the cases involving the Baltic connector and the communication cables,” Estonian government leader Kaja Kallas said in a statement on Thursday evening after a meeting with her colleagues Petteri Orpo (Finland) and Ulf Kristersson (Sweden) ) In Brussels. Kallas said nothing about what the exact connection between the incidents is.
Finnish police previously identified a cargo ship from Hong Kong that was in the area as a suspect in damaging the gas pipe. A large anchor was found near the pipe. That would have dragged the pipeline some distance. The cargo ship later also sailed in the vicinity of the telecom cables. Finnish authorities called the circumstances surrounding the gas pipeline “highly suspicious.”