Finland is investigating as probable sabotage the leak in the Balticconector underwater gas pipeline that on Sunday forced the gas flow between Finland and Estonia to be cut off, and also has suspicions about the damage to an underwater telecommunications cable between the two countries. “The damage to both the gas pipeline and the telecommunications cable is likely due to external activities. The cause is still unclear and the investigation continues in cooperation between Finland and Estonia,” Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said in a statement yesterday. Soon, Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen added that the two infrastructures “were probably damaged on purpose.”
While the pipeline break is not significant for the European gas market as a whole, it does raise questions about security of supply as winter approaches, and a year has passed since the sabotage of the Baltic Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany, whose authorship has not yet been clarified. The alarm sent European gas prices soaring on Tuesday afternoon.
The Finnish gas operator Gasgrid and the Estonian Elering closed the valves of the Balticconector on Sunday after detecting an unusual drop in pressure that they attributed to a leak of unknown origin. Gasgrid Finland estimates that the repair will take months, but both operators do not foresee a gas shortage even if the pipeline were to remain inoperative throughout the winter.
The damage to the gas pipeline occurred in the exclusive economic zone of Finland, while the damage to the telecommunications cable was in the Estonian zone. To cause this type of damage to the gas pipeline requires “special knowledge,” the Finnish National Investigation Office said yesterday. “This act could not have been carried out by an ordinary person,” Inspector Timo Kilpelainen told reporters, Reuters reports from Helsinki.
The Balticconnector connects the towns of Inkoo in Finland and Paldiski in Estonia, and its underwater section measures 77 kilometers across the Gulf of Finland. The gas pipeline was inaugurated in December 2019 to help integrate gas markets in the region, providing Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with greater supply flexibility. It can transport up to 7.2 million cubic meters of gas per day in one direction or another.
