Damage to undersea communications cables in the Baltic Sea appears to have been caused by “people”, but it remains unclear who was behind it and whether it was deliberate, Estonian officials said Friday.
The Estonian government was briefed by security authorities on Thursday regarding the investigation into damage sustained by undersea communications cables in the Baltic Sea.
Working with the Finnish and Estonian navies, Estonian investigators completed their investigation of the telecommunications cable running between the two countries in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The results thus far indicate that the damage to the cable was manmade. Further investigations will determine whether this is the case and whether the damage was due to carelessness or another reason.
The location of the leak in the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was identified in Finland’s exclusive economic zone on 10 October 2023.
Based on information from the Finnish Border Guard, Gasgrid Finland has given its expert assessment according to which the damage was not caused by the normal gas transmission process.
The Balticconnector gas pipeline was shut down when gas transmission companies Gasgrid in Finland and Elering in Estonia detected a breach.
Damage to the undersea gas pipeline and telecommunications cable connecting Finland and Estonia appeared to have been caused by “external activity”, Finnish and Estonian officials said at that time.
As initial evidence has now been collected from the cable in question, plans for its repair can now be expedited and are hoped to be in place by next week. To date, the cable repair vessel has been of help in pinpointing the site of the damage as well as in gathering evidence.
Although both Estonian and Finnish investigators are aware of vessels that were in the area at the time the damage occurred, efforts to establish any links between them remains ongoing, and it is yet too soon to indicate a culprit. Likewise it has not been confirmed that the damage was deliberate and intended to impair critical infrastructure.
Damage to another undersea cable between Estonia and Sweden is being examined as part of the same investigation, as initial data there suggests that this damage may have been manmade as well. This remains to be determined in the course of further investigation, however.
Prime Minister Kaja Kallas thanked the Estonian experts and investigators and their Finnish colleagues for their efforts. “They have worked incredibly hard out at sea over the last three days,” she noted. “I fully trust in them to ascertain the truth of the situation.”
