Through underwater investigations, the police have managed to map out a trail from start to finish, says investigation leader Sami Paila at the Central Criminal Police.
"The trail is several tens of kilometers long," he says according to a press release.
According to Finnish authorities, an anchor was missing when the vessel was contacted by the coast guard at sea, which has been reported by media in Finland. So far, it has not been possible to determine where the anchor may have been dropped, according to Sami Paila.
Russia Suspected
It was on Thursday that Finnish police boarded the Eagle S after suspicions that the vessel had damaged the Estlink 2 power cable between Finland and Estonia. On Saturday, the vessel was moved to a protected harbor further into the Gulf of Finland.
The Eagle S is suspected of being part of Russia's so-called shadow fleet, convenience-flagged vessels used to circumvent international sanctions imposed after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The investigation continues, and a new crime classification has been added: grossly disrupting postal and telecommunications services, reports Yle. Previously, the crime was being investigated as gross sabotage. The Finnish Customs suspects that the vessel has also violated the sanctions against Russia.
Difficult Weather Conditions
Talking to Yle, Sami Paila says that the trail on the seabed can be up to ten nautical miles long.
For the moment, we have the picture that the trail is a trail after the Eagle S's anchor, he says.
I can say that we have a preliminary picture of what happened at sea, how this anchor trail came about.
On Sunday, the police were forced to interrupt the underwater investigation due to bad weather.
We are completely dependent on how the sea calms down and then we will continue the investigations, says Sami Paila to Yle.
The focus is currently on interrogating the crew, according to the Central Criminal Police.
