芬兰释放了自去年12月因破坏波罗的海海底电缆而被扣留的影子舰队油轮“Eagle S”。尽管该船已被释放，但对该事件的刑事调查仍在进行中。

3月3日，芬兰当局证实，“Eagle S”号已获准在芬兰边防警卫队的监督下离开该国领海。

在调查人员发现不再有法律理由扣留该船后，做出了这一决定。然而，警方表示，对此案的调查仍在进行中，八名船员涉嫌严重犯罪，包括毁坏财物罪和篡改通信。

其中来自格鲁吉亚和印度的三人仍在旅行禁令中，另外五人早些时候被允许离开芬兰。

“Eagle S”号是一艘74000载重吨（dwt）的油轮，建于2006年，悬挂库克群岛国旗，于12月25日在海底拖着锚后被扣押。

这导致芬兰和爱沙尼亚之间的四根电信电缆和Estlink 2电力连接遭到破坏。这次拖曳在波罗的海海底形成了一条100公里长的海沟。

作为法院调查的一部分，该锚于1月6日被找回。

作为对该地区一系列类似电缆中断事件的回应，北约已经加强了监视，一些官员怀疑这是与俄罗斯与乌克兰持续冲突有关的蓄意破坏。

“Eagle S”号被认为是俄罗斯“影子舰队”的一部分。“影子舰队”是一群老式油轮，用来运输俄罗斯石油，以规避西方制裁。

虽然克里姆林宫否认与此事有关，但这艘船的扣押加剧了人们对可能采取混合作战策略的猜测。

芬兰警方希望在4月底前完成调查。受电缆损坏影响的电力传输运营商Fingrid Oyj和爱沙尼亚的Elering AS最初曾考虑保留这艘船作为损害赔偿。

然而，他们后来放弃了这个计划，理由是扣留和维护这艘船的成本过高。相反，他们打算寻求法律赔偿。

当这艘船被扣押时，芬兰特种部队用直升机上的绳索登上了它，拒绝了船长使用飞行员梯子的提议。当局在扣留期间在船上安排了12名保安，以防止非法离境。

今年1月的一次检查发现，“Eagle S”油轮存在安全缺陷，这些缺陷后来得到了纠正，芬兰交通管理局（Traficom）因此批准了该油轮的离开。

“Eagle S”是近几个月来因波罗的海海底电缆损坏而被扣留并随后获释的第三艘船只。

瑞典此前扣押了保加利亚拥有的“Vezhen”号散货船，之后将其造成的损坏归咎于恶劣的天气和糟糕的航海技术。

挪威也曾短暂扣留过一艘名为“银色丹尼尔”（Silver Daniel）的运鱼船，但后来确定这艘船没有参与任何破坏活动。没有一个波罗的海国家正式指控任何与俄罗斯有关的船只蓄意破坏。

国际电缆保护委员会报告称，全球每年发生150-200起海底电缆故障，其中高达80%是由捕鱼或船舶锚引起的。

虽然一些官员认为，最近的波罗的海电缆事件与俄罗斯的混合战争战略有关，但包括芬兰总统亚历山大·斯塔布（Alexander Stubb）在内的其他人则认为，无能或导航错误可能是罪魁祸首。

与此同时，俄罗斯电信公司（Rostelecom）最近报告称，由于一艘船拖拽其锚，该公司在波罗的海的一条海底电缆遭到损坏。

“Eagle S”号由边防卫队和芬兰湾海岸警卫队巡逻舰“Turva”号护送出芬兰水域。在油轮继续航行的同时，三名船员仍受到旅行限制，等待进一步的法律诉讼。

▲Image for representation purposes only

英文原文

Finland has released the Eagle S, a shadow fleet oil tanker detained since December for damaging undersea cables in the Baltic Sea.  Despite its release, the criminal investigation into the incident remains active.



On March 3, Finnish authorities confirmed that the Eagle S had been allowed to leave the country’s territorial waters under the supervision of the Finnish Border Guard.



The decision was made after investigators found there was no longer a legal reason to keep the vessel detained.  However, police stated that the probe into the case is still in progress, with eight crew members suspected of serious offenses, including criminal mischief and tampering with communications.



Three of them, from Georgia and India, remain under a travel ban, while five others were allowed to leave Finland earlier.



The Eagle S, a 74,000-deadweight-ton (dwt) tanker built in 2006, and sailing under the Cook Islands flag, was seized after dragging its anchor across the seabed on December 25.



This led to the damage to four telecommunications cables and the Estlink 2 electricity connection between Finland and Estonia.  The dragging created a 100-kilometer trench on the Baltic Sea floor.



The anchor was retrieved on January 6 as part of forensic investigations.



In response to a series of similar cable disruptions in the region, NATO has stepped up its surveillance, with some officials suspecting it as a deliberate sabotage linked to Russia’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine.



The Eagle S is believed to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet”- a group of older tankers used to transport Russian oil to circumvent Western sanctions.



While the Kremlin has denied involvement, the vessel’s seizure intensified speculation about possible hybrid wa***re tactics.



Finnish police want to conclude the investigation by the end of April.  Fingrid Oyj and Estonia’s Elering AS, the power transmission operators affected by the cable damage, had initially considered keeping the vessel as compensation for damages.



However, they later dropped the plan, citing excessive costs for detaining and maintaining the ship.  Instead, they intend to seek legal compensation.



When the vessel was seized, Finnish special forces boarded it using ropes from a helicopter, rejecting the captain’s offer to use pilot ladders.  Authorities place 12 security guards onboard throughout its detention to prevent unauthorised departure.



An inspection in January found safety deficiencies on the Eagle S, which have since been corrected, allowing Finland’s transport authority, Traficom, to approve the tanker’s departure.



The Eagle S is the third vessel in recent months to be detained and later released in connection with undersea cable damage in the Baltic.



Sweden had previously seized the Vezhen, a Bulgarian-owned bulk carrier, before attributing the damage it caused to rough weather and poor seamanship.



Norway had also briefly had the Silver Daniel, a fish carrier, but later determined it was not involved in any sabotage.  No Baltic country has formally charged any Russian-linked ship with intentional sabotage.



The International Cable Protection Committee reports that 150-200 undersea cable faults occur worldwide annually, with up to 80% caused by fishing or ship anchors.



While some officials argue that recent Baltic cable incidents are linked to Russia’s hybrid wa***re strategy, others, including Finnish President Alexander Stubb, have suggested that incompetence or navigational errors may be to blame.



Meanwhile, Russian telecommunications firm Rostelecom recently reported damage to one of its undersea cables in the Baltic, due to a ship dragging its anchor.



The Eagle S was escorted out of Finnish waters by the Border Guard and the Gulf of Finland Coast Guard patrol vessel Turva.  While the tanker continues its journey, the three crew members still under travel restrictions await further legal proceedings.

免责申明：本文根据Bloomberg, NYTimes等内容整理，如有误差，以英文为准；仅代表作者观点，不代表中国海员之家立场。其真实性及原创性未能得到中国海员之家证实，在此感谢原作者的辛苦创作，如转载涉及版权等问题，请作者与我们联系，我们将在第一时间处理，谢谢！联系邮箱：cnisu@54seaman.com