By Louise Rasmussen and Anne Kauranen
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Finnish police said on Tuesday they had recovered a lost anchor from the seabed as part of an investigation of suspected sabotage against power and internet cables in the Baltic Sea.
Finland last month seized the Eagle S tanker carrying Russian oil on suspicion the vessel had damaged the Finnish-Estonian Estlink 2 power line and four telecom cables by dragging its anchor across the seabed.
"The location where the anchor was found is along the route of the Eagle S ... towards the western end of the drag trace found on the seabed," Finland's National Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.
Finnish lawyer Herman Ljungberg, who represents the ship's owner, United Arab Emirates-based Caravella LLC FZ, said the alleged damage happened outside of Finland's territorial waters and that the country thus lacked jurisdiction to intervene.
Ljungberg has previously said Finland hijacked the vessel at sea and should release it, a request that was denied by a court last week.
Members of the Eagle S crew are suspected of sabotage and damage to property, and may also face criminal liability along with the ship's owner for the disruption of telecommunications, Finland's Deputy Prosecutor General Jukka Rappe told Reuters.
Finnish police have said they ordered a travel ban for eight crew members as part of the investigation.
Finland's customs service has said it believes the Eagle S is part of a shadow fleet of tankers used to circumvent sanctions on Russian oil, and has impounded its cargo.
Moscow has said Finland's seizure of the ship is not a matter for Russia.
Photos of the Eagle S taken since the incident show the vessel is missing its port side anchor.
Baltic Sea nations are on high alert after a string of power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The NATO military alliance has said it will boost its presence in the region.
The anchor was recovered from the seabed with the help of Finland's border guard and defence forces as well as the Swedish navy, the police said.
"It will contribute to the progress of the criminal investigation, and it is now subject to forensic analysis," NBI Detective Superintendent Risto Lohi said in its statement.
In a similar operation, Finland in 2023 recovered an anchor it said belonged to a Chinese container vessel suspected of damaging a gas pipeline and several fibre-optic links. The case remains under investigation.
Finland has said China is cooperating with Finnish authorities in that probe.
Finnish telecom operator Elisa said on Monday its two undersea telecommunications cables that were damaged in the Dec. 25 incident appeared to have been torn apart by a strong external force, adding that they have now been repaired.
Repairing the Estlink 2 power cable that was broken along with the telecoms cables is expected to take seven months, operators Fingrid of Finland and Elering of Estonia have said.