Baltic Tensions: Estonia Protects Vital Undersea Cables

Amid growing concerns of sabotage, Estonia's armed forces are conducting a naval operation to safeguard the Estlink 1 undersea power cable following damage to its parallel line. Tensions in the Baltic region have surged after a ship carrying Russian oil was seized in connection with the incident.

Estonia's military has initiated a naval operation to shield the Estlink 1 undersea power cable in the Baltic Sea. This move comes after recent damage to a similar cable, with concerns over potential sabotage intensifying.

On Thursday, Finland detained a vessel suspected of causing an outage in the Estlink 2 cable, which connects Finland and Estonia, and also disrupting four internet lines. The affected Baltic Sea nations are wary of sabotage amid multiple outages since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, despite the risk of technical malfunctions.

The frequency of such incidents in the region has raised doubts about their accidental nature, said Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna. Finnish investigators suspect that the seized Cook Island-registered vessel, the Eagle S, may have dragged its anchor along the seabed, causing damage. Estonia hopes NATO allies will join their protective efforts.

(With inputs from agencies.)