A subsea power cable linking Finland and Estonia was cut on Christmas Day, heightening concerns over a series of suspicious disturbances in the Baltic Sea region. Authorities are investigating whether a foreign vessel could be involved in the incident, although the ship has not been named, SkyNews reported.
The incident, which affected the Estlink-2 power cable, is the latest in a string of reported damages to undersea cables in the area. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo confirmed the disruption, which began Wednesday, while Finland’s police announced they were investigating the sequence of events surrounding the damage, with cooperation from border guards and other authorities.
No power outages were reported in either Estonia or Finland, as Estonia had enough backup power to meet demand, according to public broadcaster ERR. However, the Estlink-2 connection, with a capacity of 658 MW, remained offline after the disruption, leaving only the Estlink-1, with 358 MW, operational between the two nations, operator Fingrid stated.
The Baltic states have been on high alert since 2022, following several incidents of damage to power cables, telecommunications links, and natural gas pipelines in the region. The recent power cable disruption follows last year’s destruction of the Balticconnector gas pipeline, which connects Finland and Estonia, as well as the damage to several telecommunications cables.
Finnish authorities suspect that the damage to Estlink-2 may have been caused by a ship dragging its anchor. Meanwhile, Sweden is investigating an incident last month in which two telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea were severed, with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius suggesting that sabotage could be the cause.
The most notable incident of sabotage occurred in September 2022, when the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines between Russia and Germany were damaged by underwater explosions, leading to criminal investigations.
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