A ship which dragged its anchor and severed a subsea power cable has caused an industry wide re-think on security and reslience.
The captain of the oil tanker Eagle S is on trial in Helsinki, as prosecutors allege the vessel’s anchor dragged for nearly 90 kilometres across the Baltic seabed on Christmas Day, severing the Estlink 2 power interconnector and four major telecommunications cables.
The damage, estimated at more than €70 million (£60.45 million), caused days of disruption to power flows and internet connectivity, highlighting the risks to energy security and economic stability.
For the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA), the case underlines a wider vulnerability.
“Subsea cables are the invisible lifelines of the modern world,” said Iain Grainger, IMCA’s Chief Executive.
“They carry 99 per cent of international data traffic and an increasing share of renewable power. When they are damaged, whether through negligence, accident or hostile action, the consequences are immediate and profound. The vulnerabilities exposed in this trial are not unique to Europe; they are global.”
The issue is not just the cost of repairs. Outages can jeopardise financial markets, offshore energy flows and governments’ ability to meet net zero targets.
Ageing repair fleets, skills shortages and slow permitting processes all add to the challenge. Power cables, essential for transporting renewable energy across borders, are especially complex and slow to repair compared with telecoms cables.
Grainger warned: “Without strategic renewal of fleets, investment in specialist skills, and urgent reform of regulatory frameworks to enable faster response times to unexpected outages, governments risk being caught unprepared. This is not simply about Europe’s security, it is a matter of global economic stability.”
With the expansion of offshore wind and interconnectors worldwide, the call for resilience is urgent.
Subsea infrastructure must now be treated as central to both energy security and climate goals.
Baltic cable incident highlights fragility of subsea lifelines appeared first on Energy Live News.