German Foreign Minister Analene Berbock expressed concern today about Russia's "shadow fleet" and called for additional EU sanctions, DPA reported. She made the statement after an underwater power cable was damaged off Finland, BTA reported.
"At the moment, ships are damaging important underwater cables in the Baltic Sea almost every month. Ship crews are dropping anchors into the water, dragging them along the seabed for kilometers for no apparent reason and then losing them while pulling them out," Berbock told "Funke Mediengruppe" today. Berbock said that in her opinion these incidents are hardly a coincidence.
"This is a wake-up call for all of us. In a digitalized world, submarine cables are the communications arteries that keep our world together," the minister warned.
The "Estlink 2" cable between Estonia and Finland was severed on Wednesday, with Finnish authorities suspecting it may have been sabotage.
Following the failure, they detained the Cook Islands-flagged oil tanker "Eagle S", whose anchor is believed to have damaged the cable.
According to the EU, the ship could belong to Russia's "shadow fleet" - tankers and other cargo ships that Russia uses unofficially to circumvent sanctions on oil supplies.
Problems with communication cables in the Baltic Sea have also been reported.
Berbok warned that "Russia's neglected shadow fleet" poses a serious threat to both the environment and European security.
"It is being used by Russia to finance its war in Ukraine," she said.
By the middle of this month, more than 50 ships had been subject to EU sanctions, with more to come, Berbok said.