m/t Eagle S being escorted by Finnish Coast Guard
Some people may still remember the past headlines of shadow fleet tankers and other cargo ships allegedly dragging their anchors on the seabed and cutting data cables in the Baltic sea, namely those between Finland and Estonia in the Gulf of Finland. It became quickly apparent that cables on the seabed were quite vulnerable to attacks with simple means despite them being buried by some form of strata.
This was started by the Chinese vessel m/v Newnew Polar Bear or Russian Sevmorput that first severed gas pipelines and cables in Oct 2023 and also was spotted having a missing anchor, they left the scene in short order though and were only tracked by AIS history. Both ships were later spotted sailing in tandem off Norwegian coast close to gas pipelines. The ship’s captain, Wan Wenguo, was arrested and faces trial in Hong Kong, where he in 2025 entered a plea of not guilty to criminal damage and navigational safety violation charges.
This was then followed by the Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 in Nov 2024 being suspected of sabotage to several cables in the Baltic sea, one off Finland - Germany, another off Lithuania - Sweden. The vessel was held near in Kattegat, Denmark for some weeks until she was allowed to leave for the wellbeing of the crew.
Then the next incident in Dec 2024 that happened was the oil tanker Eagle S that broke more data cables and was instructed to proceed into Finnish territorial waters for an investigation and they complied. Police and coast guard boarded and arrested the crew and carried out their criminal investigation.
The incident and subsequent circus took forms of American soap opera as things unfolded in court. The Eagle S, her crew and Company was represented by the high caliber lawyer Herman Ljungberg vs. the Finnish gov't on charges of gross damage of property and subsequently the dirty laundry was washed in public showing the inability of the prosecutor to get their ducks in a row and made themselves an easy target. It was further reported that the shipowner is considering a multimillion-dollar civil suit against Finnish authorities for the diversion, boarding and detention of the vessel.
This was then followed by m/v Fitburg that in early 2025 also apparently had accidentally dropped their anchor and severed cables in the process. The ship was boarded by Finnish border forces in true Hollywood fashion by helicopter and abseiling law enforcement officers onto the deck. Burned by the Eagle S case I think they gave short shrift to the vessel and sent them packing.
Hypothesizing, if the incident would have happened in any other territory, the measures taken would most likely have been more severe, like e.g. sentencing the Master of the tanker for some years, probably sending him down the road for several reasons, e.g. for bad seamanship, operating an uninsured ship with lapsed Class certificates, willful damage of property, gross sabotage, etc, etc. This probably would have followed the confiscation of the cargo and ship for recovering some funds for the damage if the insurance was not valid, as it appeared to have been with Eagle S acc. to Lloyd's List.
One good example could be the allision of m/v Dali that brought down the Francis Scott Key bridge and killed six construction workers in the process. The vessel was found technically lacking but crew are still held until today in prison waiting sentencing for charges of conspiracy. The Company reached an out of court settlement of US$2.25bn with the State and the ship sails again.
In any case the vessel would have been detained until the insurance case would have been solved, one only have to look at e.g. m/v Ever Given and their mishap in the Suez Canal, the authorities certainly got their pound of flesh and then some before she was allowed to sail. These 2 incidents seems to be genuine accidents though but my point is how they were dealt with.
The Eagle S was then acquitted by the courts citing that they had no jurisdiction over international waters and dismissed all charges and the ship was allowed to leave with it's cargo, in addition the Finnish Gov't had to pay for defendants lawyers fees. The cable operators, Fingrid, didn't have the wherewithal to stand on the seizure claim so they withdrew it and as such taking on the EUR60mil estimated damage cost to their property. It seems the potato became too hot and everyone washed their hands off it.
As the vessel left, she was subsequently sent to the breakers beach in Aliaga, Turkey, probably straight after having delivered her cargo. It could have been a court appointed crew taking her there and collecting the scrap iron price. Now she was subjected to a port state control with 32 non-conformities and an ISM (safety management) audit before she could continue, and with that, she then departed with her cargo.
The Azerbaijani Captain and crew can now be sentenced to whatever sum they wish as they will never be able to pay back any of the millions that are needed to repair the cable, it's a write off for the company or probably their insurance company. The owning party of Eagle S, Caravella LLC, is apparently another Azerbaijani based in UAE according to data provided by the ships flag state, Cook Islands. Some investigative reporters of the MOT programme found her but the person denied any dealing with Caravella or Eagle S but was linked to several postbox companies hidden behind layers of offshore entities.
Meanwhile the shadow fleet continues to ply the oceans unimpeded with deteriorating equipment and ships as they are under sanctions and do not undergo annual surveys and periodical maintenance as spares are not sold to sanctioned ships. These days Companies have to prove to service providers who is the 'ultimate beneficial owner' (UBO) under the prevalent 'know your client' policies (KYC), if these are not satisfied you don't get OEM spares/ service. With every day that passes these ships become a greater risk and liability for the crews themselves, and then the environment, should they sink/ ground one day.
Not so long ago, in Jan 2025, a broken down tanker, m/t Eventin, drifted for weeks off the Baltic coast of Germany until tugs were sent to get her to safe waters. It seems the German Gov't tried to seize both cargo and vessel but also their courts scuppered this action. Again, the bill was left for the taxpayer and EU Govt's appeared toothless.
It seems the shadow fleets modus operandi is to try circumvent as many international conventions, laws and regulations as possible, to keep their ships running, as they are under sanctions and can't get spare parts for many of their onboard equipment. Then as their Classes lapse, they change to another class society and sail on the provisional certificates as they get 3 months to comply with full term requirements. This gives enough time to do a visit to e.g. EU and paperwise they're ok as port states do not want to hamper their travels as they also become a burden if detained.
For insurances they get Russian ones and they seem to be as good as the paper they're printed on but not much else. So in essence, these ships plying the European backwaters have no financial support or evidence of being up to standard and they could break down at any time and the result could possibly be a major environmental disaster. The bill of the environmental clean up would then again fall on the taxpayer as the owner would disappear into thin air.
Now, a few days ago, the Finnish media regurgitated an older article from the Eagle S case and gave a good summary and opinions of expert Master mariners about it, I have put it below freely translated to English:
*****
"Not even 0.1% of a chance" - Straight words from Master mariners about the 'dropping' anchors in the Russian shadow fleet.
According to experienced sea captains, it is not possible for a cargo ship's anchor to accidentally fall to the bottom or for it to be dragged along the seabed without the crew noticing.
Cargo ships' anchors have triple security. An experienced Master mariner says that it is practically impossible to break all of them while the ship is in transit. The picture shows an anchor winch that is used to lower or weigh the anchor. Photo by Matti Näsi.
Article by Matti Tanner, Monday 29.6.2026 at 6:00
- Five experienced sea captains rule out the possibility of anchors on Russian Shadow Fleet ships accidentally falling or dragging, as multiple safeguards and ship systems prevent this.
- The captains also consider it impossible that the ships' "black boxes" were turned off or recorded incomplete data.
- Dropping an anchor would always cause considerable noise and changes to the ship's course and engine power, and it could not go unnoticed by the crew, even due to the noise.
- Master mariners also say that the Danish and German authorities could intervene in the shadow fleet, which poses a risk of a major oil spill.
An experienced Master mariner is rejecting the accidental dropping of anchors from ships affiliated with the Russian Shadow Fleet to the seabed.
– No, it certainly won't fall by accident. I can honestly say that there is not even a 0.1% chance that it would be an accident, Captain Hannu Vartiainen emphatically tells Iltalehti newspaper.
He explains that an anchor is normally held in place on a ship by three different physical securing methods. The anchor is also attached to a chain, which is usually about 300 meters in length. If all three securing methods fails, the entire anchor and chain would sink to the bottom of the sea, as the last link, the bitter end, would break off.
– It's for safety. The idea is that if you're somewhere in the Atlantic where the seabed can be several kilometers down and the anchor falls, it can fall freely and be lost, Vartiainen says of the bitter end.
Vartiainen and four other experienced Master mariners consider the explanations of the anchors accidentally falling and being dragged along the seabed without the ship's crew noticing to be utter nonsense. Vartiainen says that the matter has been discussed a lot in meetings of Finnish shipmasters' associations, and the captains have been surprised and concerned that the explanations for the accidents have also been believed in public, at least to some extent.
– That's impossible. An anchor makes a terrible noise when it goes down. Ships are also full of electronics these days, which makes sure that something like this doesn't go unnoticed. In addition, if the anchor is let go on one side, the ship will turn towards that direction, Vartiainen says about the possibility of accident.
According to the crew of the tanker Eagle S, which severed no fewer than five submarine cables in the Gulf of Finland on Christmas Day, the ship's anchor accidentally fell into the sea and dragged along the bottom without them noticing. The anchor had time to plow the seabed for about 90 kilometers before Finnish authorities intervened. The ship's officers onboard also claimed at the time that the anchors were still up and safely secured.
The Fitburg, which damaged two submarine cables in the Gulf of Finland last New Year's Eve, dragged her anchor along the seabed for at least 130 kilometers before Finnish authorities stopped the action. The ship's crew has denied that the act was intentional.
“Not by accident”
The renowned British publication Lloyd's List reported in December 2024, citing an anonymous source, that the Eagle S ship was carrying spy equipment for monitoring NATO ships and aircraft. Photo by: Keskusrikos poliisi (police authority)
The Captain of Eagle S, Davit Vadatchkor, as well as chief mate Robert Egizaryan (back 1st left) and second mate Santosh Chauras (back 3rd left) were suspected of gross sabotage in court. However, the District Court dismissed all charges because it considered itself without jurisdiction. Photo by: Atte Kajova
Hannu Vartiainen has a long career at sea. He most recently served as master on a ship for an American shipping company. He and four other Master mariners pointed out in an interview with Uusikaupunki Sanomat newspaper in the winter that anchors on large ships do not fall accidentally. The five also wrote in the Pulloposti magazine's column of the Baltic Sea Foundation Centrum Balticum about how the serious oil spill threat posed by the Russian shadow fleet in the Baltic Sea should be addressed.
The group of Master mariners has a combined experience of thousands of years on the world's seas. In addition to Vartiainen, the group includes Stig Sundberg , the chairman of the Helsinki Shipmasters' Association, who has sailed for many years on Fortum ships, Peter Lindberg , the chairman of the Turku Shipmasters' Association, who has been a captain of large tankers, Hannu Soinila, the chairman of the Rauma Shipmasters' Association, who has several decades of experience as a captain, and Matti Näsi , who has served as a captain for many years at Fortum.
According to the Master mariners, it is impossible for a ship to move forward and the anchor to drag along the seabed without anyone on board noticing. Vartiainen says that an anchor can only be dragged along the seabed if its second and third securing devices are removed. These are the locks that secures the chain to the ship, and the so-called bears claws or, and a tightened wire strop.
The first of the three safeguards is the windlass brake. The windlass is a machinery that rotates the chain. If you loosen the brake and let the anchor down, it can be dragged along the bottom. However, before this, you must tighten the brake and also close the bears claws, which is the second safeguard.
– This doesn't happen by accident, Vartiainen says.
According to the Masters, it is impossible for the anchor to go unnoticed because the anchor being lowered causes not only a change in course but also a slowdown in the ship's speed. Thirdly, there are changes in the ship's engine power demand, and the extremely loud noise cannot go unnoticed.
Doesn't stop on its own
Vartiainen says that if you want to drag the ship's anchor on the seabed, you have to lock the anchor windlass brake first. Photo by: Matti Näsi
The master mariners have also been surprised to learn that the so-called black box of the Eagle S ship was not switched on at the moment when the ship severed the Estlink 2 cable between Finland and Estonia in the Gulf of Finland. According to Yle, the fact was discovered during investigations by the Central Criminal Police Office (KRP).
The VDR (voyage data recorder) system, known as the black box, records, among other things, all of the ship's navigation data and bridge conversations. According to the police investigation, the system only partially recorded data from the time when the Eagle S damaged the submarine cables and had not been recording for several days before that. The KRP suspected that the device had also lost its GPS feed.
Vartiainen says that it is impossible for maritime professionals to believe that the black box stopped working on its own.
– Of course, all technical devices can stop working, it's theoretically possible, but no one believes that in this case, he says.
Vartiainen says that the VDR system's recording box is always attached outside the ship's bridge, towards the stern of the ship. The box is actually orange in color, and it has, among other things, its own battery backup, which ensures that the device will stay on for at least 36 hours.
– It's sealed in such a way that it can't be tampered without leaving traces. They also need to be inspected annually.
– There is all the data you could ever need. The bridge now even has microphones these days. We thought that they must be pretty tough guys if they had been there completely silent for a long period of time, says Vartiainen.
He says that a lot of automation has been incorporated into the VDR system, including the fact that if the ship sinks, the orange box automatically surfaces when the hydrostatic release is triggered.
“You could stop it”
Anchor securing on ships usually also includes what is known as a dyneema securing system, i.e. a lock made with a Kevlar composite rope. Photo by: Matti Näsi
Anchors on large ships are also secured by a lock and a safety pin. Photo by: Matti Näsi
The five Master mariners are also very concerned about the threat of a major oil spill in the Gulf of Finland caused by tankers from the Russian shadow fleet. According to them, ships that are in poor condition, have avoided surveys and port state inspections and are sailing with incompetent crews could be stopped if desired. For the authorities, the key to this would be ships 3rd party P&I insurance for oil spills.
– Ships have dozens and hundreds of insurance policies, but the most important insurance that must be in place is the liability insurance for oil spills, says Vartiainen.
He explains that every ship above 1000 gross tons must have a valid CLC certificate (International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage) that shows liability insurance. Without it, the ship is not allowed to enter port, and upon arrival at port, the CLC is always at the top of the documents checked by the authorities.
Vartiainen reminds us that a ship cannot enter the Baltic Sea without passing through the narrow Danish Belts. In these, ships always pass through the territorial waters of both Denmark and Germany. In this regard, the authorities of these countries should take into account the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, known as UNCLOS, which defines a lot about the order and predictability of maritime navigation. The agreement does cover movement in territorial waters and it specifies that the passage of a ship must not be prevented.
– A very important term in it is freedom of navigation. But there is a caveat attached to it that says “innocent passage”. If you are moving in the territorial waters of another country, then the passage must be innocent. But if the ship has lapsed Class surveys, safety and insurance issues pending, then it is quite difficult to get it into the category of being innocent.
Huge oil cargoes
Charges were recently filed against the captain and the boatswain of the Fitburg ship in the Helsinki District Court. Photo by Matti Matikainen.
According to the UN Convention, a coastal state has the right to protect itself and take necessary measures in their territorial waters to prevent or interrupt a transit that does not meet the requirements of innocent passage. According to Vartiainen, a mere suspicion of a significant threat of pollution is enough for a coastal state to inspect a ship.
"Denmark and Germany hold the keys to ending this oil rally. They are both still NATO countries," he adds.
The Master mariners remind us that if the current activities of the shadow fleet are allowed, the situation could turn into an environmental disaster at any time. In this case, the consequences will not be directed at those responsible for the oil spill, but at others who will pay the bill.
– When looking at the monetary scale alone, the comparison is sobering: the cleanup and compensation costs of the Exxon Valdez oil spill have been estimated to have risen to around ten billion dollars, even though “only” around 37,000 tons of crude oil entered the sea. The cargoes of the tankers of the shadow fleet are around 100,000 tons, and at the same time there are about a dozen of them in the Baltic Sea, the captains compared it to the well-known 1989 oil spill in Alaska in their article in Pulloposti magazine.
The approximately four-meter-long, 2.5-meter-wide and 11-ton anchor that had been plowing the seabed of the Gulf of Finland along the Eagle S was lifted out of the sea in a joint operation by Finnish authorities. Photo by: KRP
Lawsuits expected
The captain and two mates of the tanker Eagle S were charged with crimes in the Helsinki District Court. The prosecutor demanded prison sentences of more than two years for all three.
According to the prosecutor and the grid company Fingrid, Finland was close to a serious electricity crisis on Christmas Day 2024, when Eagle S wreaked havoc across the Gulf of Finland. According to Fingrid, the loss of the EstLink 2 cable cut by Eagle S was equivalent to the loss of one of the Loviisa nuclear power reactors. According to the prosecutor, only mild winter weather and Fingrid's emergency measures saved Finns from recurring power outages.
Repairing the cables caused damage of over 100 million euros.
However, the District Court acquitted the Eagle S officers of all charges last October. According to the court, it did not have jurisdiction in the case. The prosecutor appealed the verdict to the Helsinki Court of Appeal in spring, which has not yet said when the case will be heard.
The cable damage caused by the Fitburg ship will also be dealt with in court. The Deputy Public Prosecutor announced in mid-June that he had filed charges against the ship's captain and boatswain. The District Court ordered them to be banned from travelling.
A Russian captain and an Azerbaijani boatswain are suspected of damaging two undersea communications cables and attempting to damage a total of eight other undersea communications.
The prosecutor plans to make charges against the two ship's officers later. According to preliminary information, Fitburg's case will be heard in the Helsinki District Court in September.
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