The anchor on the dark fleet tanker suspected of Baltic Sea sabotage must have been released deliberately, according to a leading maritime safety expert.
Markku Mylly, former head of the European Maritime Safety Agency and ex-director of Finland’s Maritime Administration, told TradeWinds that safety measures would need to be released on purpose for it to fall and drag along the seabed for such a distance.
The 74,035-dwt Eagle S (built 2006) is accused of deliberately using its anchor while underway to sever an electricity cable feeding power from Finland to Estonia on 25 December, shortly after leaving Russia with a cargo of oil.
Huge noise
It was boarded by police and Finnish armed forces by helicopter after the captain agreed to take the vessel into Finnish waters shortly after the cable break was noticed and Estonia and Finland responded.
In the process of dragging its anchor, the vessel subsequently lost it and images of the vessel clearly show an empty hawsepipe where a port anchor is missing.
“The noise of an anchor and hundreds of metres of cable falling out of the vessel is huge and there is a huge amount of dust thrown in the air,” explained Mylly.
Then there is the fact the anchor cable is up to 140 metres long and the depth of the water in the Gulf of Finland is only about 40 metres. This means the vessel would have been pulled to one side.
“It would be like putting on the handbrake while driving,” he said, arguing that it was likely to have been a more controlled lowering.
Mylly believes the force of the anchor and cable speeding to the seabed while the vessel travelled at speed would have ripped the anchor capstan off the deck if it had been an accident.
Even a poorly paid crew on an ageing dark fleet tanker would know how to store the anchor, he said, pointing to a chain stopper that sits across the cable chain, a brake system and even thick wires threaded through the anchor chain.
Finnish police confirmed that the anchor had been found, thanks to a special underwater survey vessel on loan from the Swedish Navy.
On 3 January, Finland secured the services of HMS Belos, a salvage and rescue vessel with underwater drones.
Risto Lohi, detective superintendent of the National Bureau of Investigation, a unit of the Finnish police, confirmed that the anchor had been located at the western limit of the drag trace the authorities have been investigating.
“We are pleased that the anchor was found. It will contribute to the progress of the criminal investigation, and it is now subjected to forensic analysis,” he said.
The Eagle S has been detained by Finland. A port state control inspection revealed more than 32 deficiencies, three of which have been grounds for detention.
These are related to the ship’s fire safety, navigation equipment and pump room ventilation.
Sanna Sonninen, director general, maritime of the Finnish Transport & Communications Agency, Traficom, saidthe Eagle S had been detained “based on observations made during PSC”.
“The deficiencies detected are of a nature that operating the ship is forbidden until the deficiencies have been rectified,” she said. “Rectifying the deficiencies will require external assistance and take time.”
