Finnish police say an anchor has been recovered from the bottom of the Baltic Sea as part of an investigation into an incident last week in which undersea power and telecommunications cables were damaged.
Authorities have said they suspect the damage was caused by a ship dragging its anchor and have detained a tanker carrying Russian oil, the Eagle S, that was missing one of its anchors. Investigators said earlier that they found a track on the seabed dozens of kilometers long indicating the ship dragged its anchor, but until now they had not found the missing anchor.
"The location where the anchor was found is along the route of the Eagle S...toward the western end of the drag trace found on the seabed," Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said in a statement.
The Swedish Navy said earlier on January 7 it had recovered the anchor after sending a submarine to assist Finland in the investigation. A spokesman for the navy told AFP that the anchor had been handed over to Finnish authorities.
Finnish customs have said they suspected the tanker is part of Russia's "shadow fleet" -- ships that carry Russian crude oil and petroleum products that are embargoed over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
The Estlink 2 electricity interconnector cable between Finland and Estonia was suddenly disconnected from the grid on December 25 along with four telecommunications lines. The Cook Islands-flagged Eagle S was detained by Finnish authorities shortly afterward and is being held in Finnish waters in the Baltic Sea.
The captain and another crew member of the seized oil tanker are Georgian nationals, Georgia's Maritime Transport Agency told RFE/RL on January 6. The agency said a representative of the Georgian Embassy had been informed of the two crew members' detention.
The incident, one of several since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has raised concerns across Europe that energy and communications infrastructure are being targeted as part of what experts and politicians call Russia's hybrid war with Western countries.
Moscow has said it has no connection to the Eagle S and Finland's seizure of the vessel is not a matter for Russia. It has regularly denied that it is involved in any of the other incidents involving Baltic Sea region infrastructure assets.
NATO announced it will strengthen its military presence in the Baltic Sea following the damage caused to the Estlink 2 and similar incidents since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Two of the damaged telecommunications cables have been repaired, according to their operators, but it remained unclear when the Estlink 2 power cable would be fixed.