BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) – According to the EU, a freighter that investigators are targeting after disrupting a power cable in the Baltic Sea is linked to Russia. “The suspicious ship is part of the Russian shadow fleet, which threatens security and the environment and at the same time finances the Russian war budget,” said a joint statement from the EU Commission and Foreign Affairs Representative Kaja Kallas.
The Russian shadow fleet includes ships that Russia uses unofficially to circumvent sanctions – for example when transporting oil. “We will propose further measures, including sanctions, to take action against this fleet,” the statement continued.
Finnish investigators arrested the oil tanker “Eagle S” after the EstLink2 power connection to Estonia was interrupted on Wednesday. The ship sails under the flag of the Cook Islands.
According to investigators, the damage to the cable could have been caused by the ship’s anchor. The EU suspects intent: the incident is the latest in a series of suspected attacks on critical infrastructure, it said. Any intentional destruction of Europe’s critical infrastructure will be condemned in the strongest possible terms./lkl/DP/he