Finland will release an oil tanker which investigators believe broke a Baltic Sea power cable and four internet lines late last year, and will escort the vessel to international waters even as the criminal probe continues,

Security analysts say Russia is operating a large “shadow fleet” of hundreds of vessels, seeking to dodge the sanctions Western nations imposed on its oil exports over the war in Ukraine.

On 3 February, Swedish authorities freed the Bulgarian-owned, 32,200-dwt bulker Vezhen (built 2022), attributing the cable damage it caused to a combination of bad weather and poor seamanship.

Swedish and Finnish police are investigating a suspected case of sabotage of an undersea telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea, and Sweden's coast guard has deployed a vessel to the area where multiple seabed cables have been damaged in recent months.

The Eagle S oil tanker, which is thought to be part of Russia's "shadow fleet," was allowed to leave Finland's waters after it was detained on suspicion of sabotaging undersea Baltic cables, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported on March 2.

Eagle S Tanker Released as Investigation Continues into Cable Damage

An oil tanker believed to belong to Russia's "shadow fleet" and suspected of sabotaging undersea Baltic cables has been allowed to leave Finland's waters, where it has been held since December, Finnish police said Sunday.