An anchor belonging to the oil tanker Eagle S, suspected of being used to damage undersea cables in the Gulf of Finland, has been located and retrieved from the seabed.
According to Yle, the anchor was lifted by the Swedish Armed Forces' multipurpose vessel HMS Belos.
Finnish authorities have taken possession of the anchor, and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is to begin analysing it on Tuesday.
The NBI suspects that the anchor was used in severing the power cable between Finland and Estonia and damaging four telecommunication cables.
Eight of the ship's crew members are suspected of aggravated sabotage and aggravated interference with telecommunications.
Last Friday, Yle reported that the NBI had identified a potential location where the anchor might be found. Later that evening, the NBI announced that seabed investigations had revealed areas consistent with possible anchor detachment points, which were subsequently examined in detail.
Traficom concludes inspection
The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom is concluding its Port State Control (PSC) inspection of the Eagle S.
According to a Traficom statement, inspections were conducted over the weekend, with one final visit to the vessel still planned.
Inspectors assessed the ship's technical condition, environmental compliance, documentation, and the crew's working conditions.
Traficom’s Maritime Director Sanna Sonninen said the inspection was carried out in cooperation with the crew, with particular attention paid to managing their workload throughout the process.
PSC is an international oversight regime in which participating countries inspect foreign ships calling in their ports to verify the ship's compliance with requirements laid out in international conventions.
A 2023 inspection of the Eagle S in Ghana revealed 24 serious discrepancies, including critical issues with maintenance, equipment, fire alarm system, and emergency power supply.