Finland releases Eagle S tanker suspected of damaging cables

The Finnish police have released the Eagle S tanker, which was previously suspected of damaging Estlink 2 cables and other important communication lines. The reason for the release was the completion of the necessary investigative actions, although the vessel will remain subject to legal proceedings.

ERR writes about this, UNN reports.

 The Finnish police detained the tanker on December 28, treating it as evidence in a criminal investigation. The detention of the vessel was also demanded by the companies that owned the damaged cables to ensure compensation for their repair.

According to the Helsinki police, the tanker was released from arrest on Friday, February 28, as the Finnish Criminal Police had carried out the necessary investigations and there were no more grounds for detention, so it could continue its journey, Yle reports.

The Finnish Border Guard is monitoring the tanker's departure from Finnish territorial waters and economic zone. The owners of the damaged cables, Fingrid and Elering, no longer consider the arrest of the tanker necessary. According to Fingrid, keeping the vessel under arrest and its maintenance is more expensive than the cost of the tanker itself.

The decision to release the tanker does not affect other legal actions. Fingrid and Elering plan to sue for damages caused by the Eagle S. Initially, the system operators will cover the cost of repairing the cables from their own funds to restore the connection as soon as possible.

The police said that the issue of measures to be applied to the crew members is being considered separately. As part of the preliminary investigation, eight crew members are suspected of committing the crime.

Three of them are currently banned from traveling, and the remaining five have had their travel bans lifted this week. Crew members with travel bans cannot leave the country. According to the Finnish police, they plan to complete the preliminary investigation by the end of April.

Elering said on Sunday that together with Finnish operator Fingrid, it has withdrawn an application to arrest the vessel to compensate for the damage caused by the Estlink 2 and now plans to sue the ship's owner to recover the cost of repairs. According to Kale Kilk, Chairman of the Board of Elering, the withdrawal of the arrest request is due to the high costs associated with keeping the vessel under arrest.

The cost of keeping the vessel under arrest is estimated at hundreds of thousands of euros per month, with a million euros as a bail, and other additional costs, which may eventually exceed the value of the vessel itself. In addition, it is very difficult to sell the vessel during the trial

Thus, the system operators plan to go to court to recover the costs of repairing the owner's vessel, but the trial may take 5-6 years. If the investigation establishes that the crew members are guilty, this will be considered separately as part of a criminal case for compensation for damages.

For Elering, it is important that the damage is compensated and that no one feels they can destroy underwater infrastructure with impunity

Recall

UNN wrote that Finland received permission to hold a detained tanker from the “shadow fleet” that damaged an energy cable and four communication cables in the Baltic Sea.