Nato steps up Baltic patrols after possible cable sabotage

Nato is to increase its military presence in the Baltic Sea, the alliance has announced, after the suspected sabotage of an underwater power cable running between Finland and Estonia.

- By Shaun Walker WARSAW

The Estlink 2 submarine cable was disconnected from the grid on 25 December, little more than a month after two telecommunications cables were severed in Swedish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea.

Finnish authorities seized a ship last Thursday, citing suspicions that the vessel had engaged in "sabotage" to cause the Estlink 2 outage. The Eagle S, which flies under the flag of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific, was en route to Port Said in Egypt.

Last Friday, Finnish police said they suspected the Eagle S of partaking in "aggravated criminal mischief". Investigators believe the ship could have deliberately caused the damage by dragging its anchor along the seabed.