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A timeline of thought underwater sabotage events in the Baltic Sea

A Finnish court has rejected a. ask for the release of an oil tanker presumed by cops of. damaging an undersea power line and four telecoms. cable televisions in the Baltic Sea recently.

The occurrence was one of several considering that 2022 in which. undersea vital infrastructure in the Baltic Sea has. suffered suspicious damage. Baltic Sea nations are on high alert. and NATO has said it will increase its existence in the Baltic Sea.

A number of cops investigations are under method but no suspects. have been brought to trial.

DEC 2024: POWER AND WEB CABLE TELEVISIONS

The Estlink 2 undersea power cable television linking Finland and. Estonia was harmed on Dec. 25 along with 4 telecoms lines.

Finland released a sabotage investigation and on Dec. 26. took a tanker bring Russian oil on suspicion it triggered the. damage by dragging its anchor.

Finnish authorities stated the Cook Islands-registered Eagle S. belonged to a shadow fleet used to circumvent sanctions on. Russian oil exports. The European Union stated it condemns any. deliberate damage of Europe's facilities.

The NATO military alliance said on Dec. 27 it would increase. its existence in the Baltic Sea area. The Kremlin stated the very same. day that the ship's seizure was of little issue to it, and. Russia has previously rejected participation in such events.

Finnish authorities stated on Dec. 29 they had actually found tracks on the. seabed where they presume the Eagle S of damaging the cable televisions.

The owner of the Eagle S, United Arab Emirates-based. Caravella LLC FZ, on Dec. 30 filed a demand with the Helsinki. District Court seeking the release of the ship. This was. turned down on Jan. 3, 2025.

NOV 2024: BALTIC TELECOM CABLES

2 undersea fibre-optic interactions cable televisions found more. than 100 nautical miles (about 200 km) apart in the Baltic Sea. were severed on Nov. 17 and 18, raising suspicions of sabotage.

A 218-km (135-mile) internet link between Lithuania and. Sweden's Gotland island headed out of service at about 0800 GMT on. Nov. 17, according to Lithuania's Telia Lietuva, part of. Swedish Telia Business.

A 1,200-km cable television linking Helsinki to the German port of. Rostock stopped working around 0200 GMT on Nov. 18, Finnish. state-controlled cyber security and telecoms business Cinia said.

Private investigators in the nations included have zeroed in on. Chinese bulk provider Yi Peng 3, which left the Russian port of. Ust-Luga on Nov. 15, and a Reuters analysis of MarineTraffic. information revealed that the ship's coordinates corresponded to the time. and location of the breaches.

China allowed agents from Germany, Sweden, Finland. and Denmark on Dec. 21 to board the Yi Peng 3 in addition to. Chinese investigators, after a month-long diplomatic standoff. during which the ship sat still in a Danish shipping lane.

Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said on. Dec. 23 China had actually not observed the Swedish federal government's demand. for a district attorney to be able to perform the initial. examination on board.

OCT 2023: BALTICCONNECTOR GAS PIPE AND CABLE TELEVISIONS

A subsea gas pipeline, the Balticconnector, which links. Finland and Estonia under the Baltic Sea, was severed by what. Finnish investigators figured out was Chinese container vessel. NewNew Polar Bear dragging its anchor in the at an early stage Oct. 8,. 2023.

Estonian authorities suspect the ship of likewise harmful telecoms. cables linking Estonia to Finland and Sweden on Oct. 7-8,. in the past hitting the gas pipeline on its method to a port near St. Petersburg in Russia.

China guaranteed Finland and Estonia assistance with the. investigations however Estonian authorities have stated the Chinese. did little to fulfil its pledges.

Finnish and Estonian detectives have been unable to. figure out whether the Hong Kong-flagged vessel caused the damage. by mishap or intentionally, and have not yet offered their. conclusions in the events.

SEPT 2022: NORD STREAM BLASTS

Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, built throughout the Baltic Sea. by Russia's state-controlled Gazprom to pump natural. gas to Germany, were harmed on Sept. 26, 2022.

Swedish seismologists registered a number of subsea blasts, some. 17 hours apart, off the Danish island of Bornholm, that ruptured. 3 out of 4 pipelines in the Nord Stream system, releasing. methane into the atmosphere.

In the investigations, Sweden found traces of dynamites on. several objects recuperated from the site, confirming it was a. purposeful act, but Sweden and Denmark closed their. investigations without calling suspects in 2024.

No one has actually taken obligation.

Some Western officials have actually suggested Moscow blew up its own. pipelines, an interpretation dismissed by Russian President. Vladimir Putin.

Russia has actually blamed the United States, Britain and Ukraine for. the blasts, which largely cut Russian gas off from the European. market. Those countries denied involvement.

In August 2024, Germany asked Poland to jail a Ukrainian. diving trainer implicated of belonging to a group that exploded. the Nord Stream pipelines. Poland stated the man left the nation. before he could be apprehended.

(source: Reuters)