Eagle S 'black box' data missing from time of Estlink 2 cable breakage
The "black box" device on the Eagle S tanker, whose trailing anchor damaged the EstLink 2 undersea electricity cable connecting Estonia and Finland, was not recording data at the time of the breakage, Yle reported.
Finnish authorities have found no evidence of a deliberate shutdown of the device, which stopped recording several days prior to the incident and started up again soon after it, in the early afternoon of December 25, 2024.
The outage was likely caused by issues with the GPS link, Yle reported (link in Finnish).
The Eagle S is thought to be part of Russia's sanctions-evading "shadow fleet" and was impounded off the coast of Finland after being intercepted on Christmas Day. This followed damage to the Estlink 2 cable, which was out of action until June, plus four more undersea cables, causing tens of millions of euros' damage.
The trial of the ship's Georgian captain, Davit Vadatchkoria, and two co-defendants, started in Helsinki on Monday.
Investigation materials released by the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (KRP) show that the authority began examining the ship's systems and questioning the crew immediately after Finnish authorities halted the vessel's movement, on the evening of Christmas Day 2024.
Authorities first focused on the ship's VDR system, that is, the ship's black box, which records its navigation data and conversations on the bridge, which was confiscated.
However, black box data at the time when the ship's trailing anchor was found to have damaged the undersea cables was incomplete, as data was only being partly recorded.
It was established that the system had been recording data from just before 1 p.m. on December 25, but no data was found regarding the ship's cable breakage, leading police to suspect either a system failure or deliberate data deletion.
This black hole of data recording stretched back to 4:31 p.m. on December 18, meaning no events were recorded by the Eagle S's black box from then until 12:59 p.m. on Christmas Day.
Yle reported the timeline of events from Saturday, December 21, involving the Eagle S, a 20-year-old, Cook Islands-flagged oil tanker thought to be part of Russia's shadow fleet and carrying a cargo of oil, as follows:
December 21: The ship was anchored off St. Petersburg, then moved to the Russian port of Ust-Luga for loading, mostly operating in Russian waters. The Eagle S black box data from three days before onwards has not been found.
December 24 (Christmas Eve): The Eagle S departed Ust-Luga.
December 25, 12:59 p.m.: The Eagle S black box GPS signal was restored, and the black box resumed recording. 1:05 p.m.: Immediately after recording started, the ship's second officer noticed low engine RPMs and notified the captain. 6:43 p.m.: The last of the five damaged cables was broken. Following this, the Finnish coast guard requested the vessel to raise its anchor. A special-ops type boarding of the vessel took place that evening.
GPS signal lost while transiting Gulf of Finland
The GPS signal was lost during the ship's transit through the Gulf of Finland, causing the receiver's date to reset to 2005 and transmitting incorrect times. Captain Vadatchkoria reported that the GPS had stopped working about an hour after the ship entered Russian territorial waters, with the signal intermittently present afterward. The KRP found the black box's receiver to be susceptible to interference, but they concluded the system's failure was due to the loss of GPS signals and not intentional tampering.
The KRP's investigation revealed no signs of deliberate manipulation or falsification of the recorded data.
Finnish prosecutors are demanding prison sentences of at least two and a half years, including for aggravated vandalism, for the three defendants, Vadatchkoria and the ship's first and second officers
Charges were filed at the Helsinki District Court, and hearings started Monday.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Valner Väino
