A Finnish court has ordered the seizure of a shadow fleet tanker accused of damaging undersea power cables on Christmas Day.
The 74,000-dwt Eagle S (built 2006) is now under a double detention, following action by the police at the end of December.
The tanker was accused of deliberately using its anchor while underway to sever an electricity cable feeding power from Finland to Estonia, shortly after leaving Russia with a cargo of oil.
Finnish authorities suspect the vessel damaged the Finnish-Estonian Estlink 2 power line and four telecoms cables by dragging its anchor across the seabed for more than 100 km (62 miles).
Finnish broadcaster YLE reported that Helsinki District Court, which acts as a maritime court, has now ordered the seizure of the ship at the request of the companies that own the broken cables — Fingrid, Elisa and the Estonian company Elering.
They allege the vessel’s operator, Caravella of the United Arab Emirates, is liable for damage.
The court considered the applicants to have probable maritime claims that can be brought in court in Finland or abroad.
TradeWinds has reported the crew had plans to cut more cables and pipelines when Finnish authorities boarded it on 26 December.
Risto Lohi of the National Bureau of Investigation said the vessel was threatening to cut a second power cable, Estlink1 — the backup for Estlink 2 — and the Balticconnector gas pipe between Finland and Estonia at the time it was seized.
Travel bans have been imposed on nine of the crew.
The captain of the ship is Georgian and the crew are citizens of India and Georgia.