A gas pipeline and telecommunications cable connecting Finland and Estonia under the Baltic Sea have been damaged by what appears to be a deliberate “external” act, the Finnish government said on Tuesday, as quoted by Reuters.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has already said that NATO is sharing information about the damage and that the alliance is ready to provide support to all member states concerned.

The Balticconnector gas pipeline was shut down Sunday morning due to fears of a natural gas leak through a hole in the 77-kilometer pipeline.

Finnish operator Gasgrid said repairs could take several months or even longer.

The Estonian gas system operator says all tips are being investigated

“It is likely that the damage to the gas pipeline and communication cable is the result of external action. The cause of the accidents is not yet clear, the investigation is ongoing in cooperation between Finland and Estonia,” Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said on Tuesday.

“The pressure drop in the pipeline was quite rapid, which indicates that this is not a small breach. But the reason still remains unclear,” a Baltic official told Reuters on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the case.

The pipeline, connecting Inkoo in Finland and Paldiski in Estonia, crosses the Gulf of Finland, an area of ​​the Baltic Sea that stretches eastward to Russian territorial waters and the port of St. Petersburg.

A spokesman for Elering, the gas operator of the Estonian system, said a day ago that no hypothesis could be ruled out as to the cause of the breakdown, and sabotage was also possible.

In September 2022, the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which pass through the bottom of the Baltic Sea and connect Russia to Germany, were damaged by explosions that the authorities of all involved countries explained as sabotage. But the actor or actors behind the incident have not yet been identified.

The damaged gas pipeline connects the Baltic states and Finland

As for the Balticconnector pipeline, it was opened in December 2019 to help integrate natural gas markets in the region, giving Finland and the Baltic countries more flexibility in supply.

Both Elering and Gasgrid said they don’t expect any problems with gas supplies, even though the pipeline will remain closed over the winter.

Last year, Finland leased a floating storage and regasification terminal to receive liquefied natural gas, which replaced natural gas supplies from Russia after the start of Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

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