Undersea cable cutting in the Baltic Sea | 60 Minutes

- Russian military activity has increased pressure on NATO's eastern flank. Russian aircraft have recently penetrated NATO airspace over Poland, Romania and Estonia, adding to concerns about a broader campaign of pressure against European countries.

- The Baltic Sea has experienced an unusual wave of undersea cable damage. At least 11 cables have been cut in the past two years, primarily in waters off Finland, which shares an 832-mile border with Russia. Responsibility remains unresolved, but similar incidents were extremely rare before Russia invaded Ukraine.

- Undersea cables are essential to modern infrastructure. They carry electricity, gas and digital communications, supporting global banking, internet access and other critical services. Damage to these connections can disrupt essential services across national borders.

- Finland is monitoring a strategically sensitive maritime corridor. The Finnish Navy uses remote underwater vehicles to monitor cables in the Gulf of Finland, a narrow, shallow stretch of the Baltic Sea. The 170-foot Finnish minesweeper Vatpa is part of the country's maritime defenses, operating in waters between Russia, Finland and Estonia.

- Russian commercial shipping represents a substantial presence in the Baltic Sea. Finland's Navy Chief of Staff, Tony Yotzia, said approximately 40% of Russia's commercial traffic passes through the Baltic Sea, much of it involving oil transportation. Thousands of vessels operate in the Gulf of Finland, including ships carrying Russian oil and gas to India and China through Finnish waters around the clock.

- The Eagle S incident triggered an emergency response on Christmas Day 2024. The tanker, carrying Russian gas towards Egypt, was suspected of damaging Finland's electricity connection with Estonia. Finnish Prime Minister Orpo received an urgent call from the Border Guard reporting severe damage to the S-link 2 electricity cable, approximately 50 metres off the Finnish coast.

- The Eagle S was suspected because of its location and the pattern of previous damage. Before the Christmas incident, five other suspicious cable and gas pipeline breaks had occurred. The Border Guard identified the Eagle S as a suspected vessel in the area and prepared to intercept it.

- Orpo personally authorized an extraordinary interception. Recognizing the potential for further damage, the prime minister gave the responding authorities his government's full support and instructed them to use all available measures. The Coast Guard vessel Turva headed towards the tanker while police and Finland's National Bureau of Investigation monitored developments from shore.

- The Eagle S crew gave authorities an assurance about its anchors that subsequent observations contradicted. The Coast Guard radioed the tanker and asked whether its anchors were secured. The crew answered that they were. Approximately three hours later, at 6 p.m., as the Turva approached, officers observed an anchor chain hanging in the water.

- Finnish police considered the anchor's position evidence of potentially deliberate conduct. Helsinki police chief Jerry Leuku said authorities had strong reason to believe the activity was intentional. Investigators were informed that five crucial undersea cables along the Eagle S's route had been broken that day, while the tanker continued moving.

- Finland feared the Eagle S could damage additional infrastructure before it was stopped. National Bureau of Investigation official Risto Lohi said other cables along the vessel's route were at risk, potentially affecting Estonia's electricity and gas supplies. Authorities concluded that intervention was necessary to prevent further damage.

- Finnish armed forces boarded a commercial vessel in an unprecedented operation since the Second World War. Just after midnight, when the Eagle S entered Finnish territorial waters, armed special forces arrived by helicopter, boarded the tanker in darkness and took control. Approximately two dozen crew members, from Georgia and India, were aboard.

- The boarding involved coordinated action by several Finnish authorities. The police, Border Guard and Defence Forces participated in taking control of the vessel. Finnish officials described the operation as the first time since the Second World War that Finnish troops had boarded a vessel, justified by the imminent threat to critical infrastructure connecting Finland and Estonia.

- Investigators established a physical trail linking the Eagle S to the damaged cables. Underwater footage showed damage to the seabed. Finnish investigators determined that the tanker had dragged its anchor for more than six hours, leaving a continuous track beginning at the first damaged cable and extending to the location where the vessel was stopped.

- The anchor was so badly damaged that it broke away from its chain. When the vessel was ordered to retrieve it, the battered anchor snapped off. Investigators recovered the anchor and documented its track marks on the seabed.

- The Eagle S dragged its anchor approximately 100 kilometres before being stopped. Finnish Coast Guard commander Miko Simola described the distance as approximately 66 miles. The Coast Guard cutter Turva eventually confronted and stopped the tanker.

- The captain's claim that the anchor was lowered accidentally was met with skepticism. In court, the captain argued that the anchor had been dragged unintentionally. Simola pointed out that ships have approximately three separate safety mechanisms designed to prevent accidental anchor deployment and said it was difficult to believe a captain would not know whether the anchor was raised or in the water.

- Finnish prosecutors charged the captain and two senior officers. They face charges of aggravated criminal mischief and interference with communications. All three pleaded not guilty. The criminal case was still underway at the time of the interview.

- Repairing the damaged cables cost approximately $70 million. The financial damage illustrates how an incident involving a single commercial vessel can create substantial costs for critical infrastructure operators and the countries dependent on those connections.

- The Eagle S's ownership structure was difficult to trace. A seven-month investigation by 60 Minutes found that the vessel's owners were concealed behind multiple layers of shell companies. Public records identified its primary owner as a woman from Azerbaijan with an office in Dubai.

- The tanker had commercial connections across three countries. An Indian company managed the Eagle S, while the vessel was leased to a major Russian oil company. The investigation also found that the Russian oil company had financed a fleet of difficult-to-trace tankers transporting Russian oil in an effort to evade Western sanctions.

- The Eagle S was connected to Russia's so-called shadow fleet. These tankers transport Russian oil through opaque ownership and operating arrangements that make them harder to track. The trade allows Russian oil companies to continue generating revenue despite Western sanctions, providing money to Russia's economy and, indirectly, its war effort.

- The shadow fleet creates both an economic and a security problem for Finland. Its vessels regularly operate in strategically sensitive Baltic waters, sometimes extremely close to Finnish territory. Orpo said Russia was barely 200 metres across the water in parts of this region and that the fleet's continuing presence was increasing tensions.

- Orpo considers Russia a direct security threat to Finland. He cited Russia's invasion of Ukraine and what Finland regards as hybrid attacks against European countries. He distinguished this situation from conventional warfare, explaining that Finland was not at war but was nevertheless under attack and considered a target.

- Hybrid attacks include sabotage and other hostile activities below the threshold of conventional war. The interview identified suspicious Baltic Sea incidents and attacks elsewhere in Europe, including firebombings, assaults on railway infrastructure and arms depots, and explosive packages. EU officials have connected Russia to numerous such incidents.

- Finland sees a clear connection between the Russian shadow fleet and the undersea cable incidents. When directly asked whether Russia was responsible, Orpo said there was a clear connection between the shadow fleet and these incidents. He also emphasized that the cable damage began occurring after Russia's aggression against Ukraine, whereas such incidents had not previously been a recurring problem. The interview did not establish direct evidence identifying who ordered the Eagle S's actions.

- Orpo believes Russia may be testing NATO's and Finland's defensive weaknesses. Asked whether Russia was probing for vulnerable points in their infrastructure and defenses, he described the activity as an attempt to harm Finland and create fear.

- Finland interpreted the Eagle S interception as a test of national resolve. Orpo said the operation sent a clear signal to the shadow fleet and potentially the actors behind it that Finland had limits and was prepared to defend its critical infrastructure.

- Finland's NATO membership strengthened the regional security response. Finland joined NATO in 2023, bringing its strategically important Baltic coastline and its border with Russia further into the alliance's collective defense framework.

- NATO launched Operation Baltic Sentry in response to the cable incidents. The operation deploys ships and aircraft to monitor the shadow fleet and protect critical undersea infrastructure. Its purpose is to deter further sabotage and prevent similar incidents.

- NATO regarded the Eagle S incident as a provocation requiring a visible response. British Admiral Keith Blount, NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, described the incident as a triggering event for Baltic Sentry. He said the alliance wanted to deter and prevent similar incidents from happening again.

- NATO says no further comparable incident has occurred since Baltic Sentry was established. Blount presented this as an indication that the operation was having a deterrent effect. He said NATO's message was that the alliance would not tolerate interference, illegal conduct or actions threatening the safety and security of its people.

- The Eagle S faced international sanctions. Because of its connection to the Russian shadow fleet, the European Union, United Kingdom and Canada sanctioned the vessel, restricting its access to ports.

- Orpo described the interception as a turning point in Finland's approach to protecting critical infrastructure. He acknowledged that the initial cable incident might appear relatively small, but argued that the scale of Finland's and NATO's response demonstrated a willingness to defend national infrastructure and property. He agreed with the sentiment that the time had come to draw a firm line: enough was enough.