Finnish court blocks release of Russian oil tanker
A Finnish court denied a request for the release of an oil tanker suspected by police of damaging an undersea power line and four telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea last week.
Finland on Dec. 26 seized the Eagle S tanker carrying Russian oil on suspicion that it damaged the Finnish-Estonian Estlink 2 power line and the telecoms cables the previous day by dragging its anchor across the seabed.
Baltic Sea nations are on high alert after a string of outages of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. NATO said last week it would boost its presence in the region.
A lawyer representing United Arab Emirates-based Caravella LLC FZ, which owns the tanker, had sought the release of the vessel and crew.
"This district court has rejected the claim of the defendant, which means that this seizure remains in force," Helsinki District Court Judge Tatu Koistinen said.
Finland's National Bureau of Investigation has impounded the vessel and the Finnish customs office has seized its cargo of 35,000 tonnes of unleaded petrol while it investigates whether sanctions against Russia have been breached.
The Finnish parliament’s defence committee held an extraordinary meeting about recent incidents in the Baltic. Its chair said investigations were ongoing.
Finnish Parliament Defence Committee Chairman, Jukka Kopra, saying: “Let us first of all state that the Finnish authorities have acted very promptly and with determination in this matter. The action of the vessel was stopped, the situation was brought under control and now an investigation into it is underway and that is a good thing.”
The customs service believes the Eagle S is part of a shadow fleet of ageing tankers being used to evade sanctions on the sale of Russian oil.
The Eagle S vessel, which is registered in the Cook Islands, was brought to a bay near Finland's port of Porvoo where police are currently collecting evidence and questioning the crew who are Georgian and Indian citizens.
