Russia completes repair of Baltic Sea telecoms cable, Finland says

FILE PHOTO: A view of the Balticconector pipeline in Paldiski

FILE PHOTO: A view of the Balticconector pipeline as it is pulled into the sea in Paldiski, Estonia in an undated handout photo taken in 2019. ELERING/Handout via REUTERS//File Photo

Source: X80001

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Finland's coast guard said on Thursday that Russia has completed repairs of a Russian Baltic Sea telecoms cable that was damaged six weeks ago around the same time that a gas pipeline and other communications cables were broken.

Finnish and Estonian investigators have said they suspect a Chinese container vessel, the NewNew Polar Bear, of causing serious damage to the Balticconnector pipeline and telecom lines by dragging its anchor over the sea bed.

The Finnish border guard on Nov. 6 said it was monitoring a Russian salvage ship, the Spasatel Karev, that was undertaking repairs to the 1,000 kilometre (620 miles) Baltika cable in Finland's economic zone.

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"No violations of the Economic Zone Act or permit conditions were detected in the surveillance operation and the related inspections of the repair work," the Finnish coast guard wrote on X on Thursday.

The Baltika cable belonging to state-owned Rostelecom runs from the region of St. Petersburg to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the southern Baltic Sea coast.

This article was produced by Reuters news agency. It has not been edited by Global South World.

By Reuters