Eagle S, the Russian ship suspected of deliberately cutting through communication cables in the Baltic Sea, has also been connected to attempted sabotage in the North Sea of the Atlantic Crossing 1 (AC-1).
That is an optical submarine telecommunications cable system, a vital infrastructure linking the US with the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a critical national security asset for all the countries involved.
Dutch news outlet NRC has investigated signals from the ship and found it had remained for hours over the AC-1 cables off the Netherlands.
“This is undoubtedly suspicious,” Rob de Wijk, professor of international relations at Leiden University and founder of the think-tank The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS), told NRC on January 7.
The Eagle S is an oil tanker from Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” or “dark fleet”, which consists of old vessels that transport Russian oil outside the scope of Western sanctions.
According to the Swedish marine authorities, they are equipped with masts and antennas, which they have said was unusual for oil tankers.
On December 27, Lloyd’s List Intelligence reported the Eagle S was equipped that way and “was loaded with spying equipment”.
The vessel was seized by Finland on December 25 for allegedly damaging an undersea cable, disrupting the supply of electricity to Estonia from Finland.
According to sources close to the investigation, the hi-tech equipment on board was abnormal for a merchant ship and consumed a lot of extra power from the vessel’s generator, leading to repeated blackouts.
Eagle S also dropped “sensors-type devices” in the English Channel during a transit, they said.
NRC reported that on the evening of November 24, 2023, the Eagle S was observed moving back and forth at a speed of two to three knots (approximately 3kph to 6kph) above the submarine cable, according to an analysis of Automatic Identification System signals, which continuously broadcast a ship’s position and speed.
After about two hours, the vessel picked up speed and continued its journey toward Russia.
Also on January 7, the Swedish marine recovered an anchor on the Baltic Sea seafloor, which they said they believed was from the Eagle S.
The anchor is now in the custody of Finnish authorities.
It is suspected the ship used its anchor to drag the seabed, cutting the Estlink power cable and damaging four data cables on Christmas day.
Defence experts told NRC there were so many ships passing the Dutch coastline [the port of Rotterdam is the largest in Europe and neighbours Antwerp, the second-largest], which made it hard to know where to focus its attentions.
Ships of the Russian dark fleet sail under different, foreign flags and often under anonymous ownership.
At least seven Russian ships have reportedly made suspicious movements around the Dutch coastline, often near critical infrastructure.
An added difficulty for authorities is the fact that these ships operate in international waters, giving the Dutch marine service little room to intervene.
In principle, seas and oceans are freely accessible under the judicial concept of “mare librum“. That refers to a navigable body of water (such as a sea) that is open to all nations.
De Wijk said Dutch wind turbines, cables and transformer stations at sea were all located outside territorial waters, where authorities can exercise little power.
“At the time, this seemed practical, but security was never factored into the design. Now it’s clear that this makes them extremely vulnerable to hybrid warfare,” he said.
Eagle S's anchor in Swedish Navy's HMS Belos's Sonar-image, on seabed and lifted to the surface.
Finnish Police continues the investigations. pic.twitter.com/d4z11sJnOy
— Tomi 🇺🇦🇫🇮🏴☠️ (@TallbarFIN) January 7, 2025
