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 damage important underwater cables in the Baltic Sea almost every month. Ship crews drop anchors into the water, drag them for kilometers along the seabed for no apparent reason and then lose them while pulling them out," Berbock told "Funke Mediengruppe" today. Berbock said she did not think the incidents were just coincidences.
"This is a wake-up call for all of us. In a digitalized world, undersea cables are the communication arteries that keep our world together," the minister warned.
The "Estlink 2" cable between Estonia and Finland was cut on Wednesday, with Finnish authorities suspecting sabotage.
The failure led them to detain the Cook Islands-flagged oil tanker "Eagle S", whose anchor is believed to have damaged the cable. The EU has said 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. Berbock 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. As of the middle of this month, more than 50 ships were subject to EU sanctions, with more to be imposed, Berbock said.