News

Two damaged telecoms cables now repaired

The cables may have been damaged by the anchor of the shadow fleet tanker Eagle S.

The Eagle S dark fleet tanker.
The Eagle S is suspected of causing damage to several cables between Finland and Estonia over the Christmas holiday. Image: Jussi Nukari / Lehtikuva
  • Yle News

Two of the cables damaged on Christmas Day in the Gulf of Finland have been repaired, said the teleoperator Elisa on Monday.

Elisa said that weather conditions had made repair work more challenging than usual. Elisa said that the cable damage has had no impact on its data transfer between Finland and Estonia.

A total of four telecoms cables were damaged in the incident, with the Estlink 2 electricity transmission cable also cut.

An investigation is ongoing into how the telecoms cables were broken, with "dark fleet" oil tanker Eagle S suspected of involvement. The tanker is currently being held off Porvoo while Traficom investigators examine the ship and interview crew.

Eight crew members are subject to travel bans and suspected of aggravated sabotage and aggravated interference with telecommunications.

The ship's owners have demanded it be released, arguing that there is no proof it was involved in the cable damage, but a judge threw out their case on Friday.