Contentious subsea cable damage fully repaired

The C-Lion1 cable, which sends data and communications between Finland and Nordic countries, is 1,173 kilometres in length. 

Installed in 2016 by Finnish provider of security for digital environments Cinia, the cable is suspected of being damaged by the tanker Eagle S dragging its anchor across the seabed.

Cable-repair vessel Cable Vigilance, a 5,448GT cable-laying and repair high-speed vessel built for working in harsh conditions with integrated cable tanks, cable machinery, jointing and testing rooms and its own dedicated ROV and plough capabilities, was called in to repair the damage, which had been detected on December 25. It reported completing the work in the Gulf of Finland, southeast of Porkkalanniemi, on January 6.

The vessel is owned by Malaysian firm Optic Marine Maintenance (the OMS Group), which owns cable-lay and repair vessels and barges, offshore supply vessels and tugs.

Cinia is demanding the seizure of the tanker, which appears to have links with Russia, and has applied to the Helsinki District Court to claim compensation for the damage. It has already filed an official request for investigation with Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation.

The Christmas Day incident comes after a similar service outage in the Baltic Sea, east of southern Sweden, after which Sweden and Finland deployed their navies to investigate the suspected sabotage of two cables.

Reuters reported that Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson asked the Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3, which had been in the area at the time of the damage, to return to the scene ’to help facilitate an investigation into recent breaches of undersea fibre-optic cables in the Baltic Sea’. He said he was not making accusations, Reuters said.

Cable Vigilance was again called in to repair the cable, which was completed in a few days.