On the night of October 8th, the operator of the Balticconnector pipeline reported a sudden drop in pressure on a gas pipeline. It happened just over a year after the attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines.
Estonia, Finland and Sweden are certain: it was foreign influence. Initial investigations have shown that the concrete pipe of the gas pipeline was probably torn open on the side by a heavy object. Two data cables connecting Finland and Sweden with Estonia were also affected.
Legend:
The Finnish border guard agency published a photo of the gas pipeline that was torn open at the side. (October 24, 2023)
Finnish Border Guard/Handout via REUTERS
Finnish police later said they had recovered an anchor from a Chinese freighter near the site of the damage and released photos. Matching drag marks several meters long were also discovered.
Legend:
An anchor recovered by the Finnish Navy from a three-meter-deep mud hole, where only a small part of it was visible when it was discovered next to the damaged Balticconnector gas pipeline, is in Helsinki, Finland, October 24, 2023 to see.
Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) via REUTERS
Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen says of the ongoing investigation: “We can’t yet say who is behind it. But we are sure it was someone else’s influence.”
Legend:
The drag mark is clearly visible in the picture from the Finnish border guard. (October 24, 2023)
Finnish Border Guard/Handout via REUTERS
According to ship position data from Marine Traffic, two ships were in the area at the time of the incident. The Chinese container ship “New Polar Bear”, whose anchor the authorities have now recovered, and a Russian freighter.
Both countries have denied responsibility for the incidents. The Chinese Foreign Ministry is calling for an objective investigation. A spokeswoman explains that the investigation will be supported as much as possible.
Johannes Peters, an expert in maritime security at the University of Kiel, is currently not ruling out both an oversight and deliberate sabotage. The scenario that such an anchor falls down, is dragged along and is not noticed at first is possible and plausible.
Of course you can do something like that with intention and then claim exactly that and say: It was an accident.
But at the same time he adds: “You can of course do something like that with intention and then claim exactly that and say: It was an accident.” We will now have to prove this – if we can.
Another case
A week ago, Sweden also reported an incident in the region – a telecommunications cable connecting Estonia and Sweden was damaged at the same time as the Estonian-Latvian gas pipeline. The defense minister explains that the cable is damaged, but the data exchange is still working.
The expert explains that the damage is not great enough to cause distress to the countries. However, an act of sabotage could deliberately create uncertainty: “Our energy infrastructure is vulnerable, we are vulnerable to attack at a critical point. This signal can of course be sent out.”
In the shallow Baltic Sea, hundreds of cables and pipelines run close to the surface of the water. They can hardly be protected.
Around six months after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, gas suddenly gushes out of two pipes on the Nord Stream pipelines – it quickly becomes clear: this was an explosive attack. To this day it has not been conclusively clarified who was behind it. But the incident has alarmed Russia’s neighbors on the Baltic Sea, as SRF Northern Europe correspondent Bruno Kaufmann explains:
“In the shallow Baltic Sea, hundreds of cables and pipelines run close to the surface of the water. They can hardly be protected. That’s why unrest is now growing in Scandinavia. Any disruption or damage is initially viewed as a possible act of hybrid warfare on Russia’s part. The NATO neighbors on the Baltic Sea must now become more attentive and at the same time keep a cool head.
Negligence or sabotage – the only thing that is certain at the moment is that it will take months to repair the gas pipe.
You can see more on the topic tonight at 9:50 p.m. in the Broadcast “10 vor 10” on SRF1.