Finland police seize Russian-linked dark fleet tanker Eagle S in cable-cutting investigation
This is the first time a ship suspected of sabotaging undersea infrastructure has been taken into custody by authorities, according to Estonia Prime Minister Kristen Michal
Cook Islands tanker suspected of damaging Estlink 2 cable and possible other damage by police investigating aggravated vandalism on the undersea infrastructure
FINNISH police said they have seized Russia-linked dark fleet* tanker Eagle S (IMO: 9329760) as they investigate damage to undersea cables on Christmas Day.
The 20-year-old, Cook Islands-flagged tanker was suspected of dragging anchor as it sailed from Russia through the Gulf of Finland, damaging the Estlink 2 cable and cutting electricity supply to Estonia from Finland.
This is the first time that a ship suspected of sabotaging undersea infrastructure has been taken into custody by authorities, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said.
International maritime conventions do not allow for ships to be detained as they sail through territorial waters of countries under what is called the right of innocent passage, with prior vessels suspected of cable sabotage this year leaving waters without being fully investigated.
The seizure has heightened scrutiny on the so-called dark or shadow fleet of tankers shipping Russian oil, many without known insurance and with beneficial owners hidden behind layers of corporate shell companies across the world.
When the Finnish Border Guard asked Eagle S to raise anchor only the anchor chain surfaced, a police media briefing in Helsinki was told today.
The preliminary investigation was into damage to the Estlink 2 undersea cable and “other possible damage in the sea area”, Finland police said in a statement.
“The criminal code at this stage of the investigation is aggravated vandalism.”
The Helsinki Police Department said they conducted what they said was a field operation on the ship that was accessed by border guards and Defence Forces helicopters.
Eagle S is solely used to ship Russian oil and is poorly maintained. It had loaded a cargo of what Finnish customs officials said was unleaded gasoline in the Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga on December 23.
Five months ago the panamax tanker swapped classification societies to avoid an unscheduled survey into its condition.
It was found to have serious deficiencies that compromised environmental and crew safety in a tanker vetting report undertaken while at anchor in Skagen, Denmark in June.
Estonia Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the damage to undersea infrastructure was not a coincidence.
“They have become systematic, and we must consider them an attack on our infrastructure,” he said.
Eagle S is part of a 26-tanker fleet linked to three related shell companies in India and Dubai, including two sanctioned by the UK in December 2023 for “propping up Putin’s war machine”.
The single-ship registered owner is Dubai-based shell company Caravella LLC FZ, which claims its address as a business centre at a luxury hotel, The Meydan Centre.
ISM manager Peninsular Maritime India Private Limited in Mumbai has eight ships in the so-called dark fleet of ships shipping sanctioned oil with complicated and obscure structures to avoid beneficial ownership discovery. It cannot be traced.
However, the website of another shipmanager in Mumbai, Uniocean Marine Services, also claims to manage this ship as well as a further 15 from the same dark fleet cluster of 27 tankers.
The company, which is not listed in shipping databases as being connected with these ships, has been contacted for comment.
Sabotage of undersea cables in the Baltic Sea has intensified in 2024 with two other incidents including one that involved China-flagged bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 (IMO: 9224984).
The ship sailed from international waters in the Danish straits on December 21, where it had been at anchor for four weeks amid an investigation into a November 19 cable-cutting incident in the Baltic Sea.
German, Swedish and Danish authorities were not able to detain the vessel as it had the right of innocent passage. The ship sailed amid claims that Chinese officials refused the Swedish prosecutor access to the vessel during a joint inspection on December 19.
China’s foreign ministry said on Monday that it had co-operated in the investigation, according to Reuter’s reports of a media briefing with spokesman Mao Ning.
“In order to co-operate with the investigation, Yi Peng 3 has been suspended for a long period of time, and to safeguard the physical and mental health of the crew, the shipowner company has decided to resume its voyage after a comprehensive assessment and consultation with the parties concerned,” Mao said according to Reuters.
Eagle S’s last known marine insurer was Ingosstrakh in documents that showed the contract expired in August 2024. Its current insurer is unknown. Ingosstrakh said via a spokesperson on January 2 that the marine insurer had unilaterally terminated its coverage before the contract expired, and one of the reasons was the ship's poor condition. The Indian Register of Shipping is listed as the classification provider.
*This story was amended on January 2 to incorporate information provided from Ingosstrakh about Eagle S's insurance arrangements to reflect the termination of coverage before contract expiry in August.
* Lloyd’s List defines a tanker as part of the dark fleet if it is aged 15 years or over, anonymously owned and/or has a corporate structure designed to obfuscate beneficial ownership discovery, solely deployed in sanctioned oil trades, and engaged in one or more of the deceptive shipping practices outlined in US State Department guidance issued in May 2020. The figures exclude tankers tracked to government-controlled shipping entities such as Russia’s Sovcomflot, or Iran’s National Iranian Tanker Co, and those already sanctioned.
Download our explainer on the different risk profiles of the dark fleet here
