A Finnish Coast Guard patrol stopped a small boat that tried to reach Eagle S, the Cook Islands-flagged oil tanker that is held outside Porvoo, Southern Finland, on Monday. The oil tanker is suspected of causing damage to a transmission cable between Finland and Estonia on Christmas Day. (Jussi Nukari – Lehtikuva)
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A SUPERINTENDENT at Helsinki Police Department has denied claims made by Herman Ljungberg, the legal representative of the shipping company that operates Eagle S, Caravella, in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat.
Ljungberg on Monday stated to Helsingin Sanomat that members of the crew have been fed insufficiently, been disallowed from sleep and been interrogated without the presence of legal representation.
A crew member said in a text message obtained by the newspaper that they are stressed and tired due to the circumstances.
Superintendent Heikki Porola from Helsinki Police Department stated to the newspaper that both the interrogations and the pre-trial investigation on the whole have been conducted in accordance with regulations by the National Bureau of Investigation (KRP). Persons of interest, he added, can decide for themselves “what kind of counsel” they bring to the interrogation, with authorities obligated to offer the opportunity for legal counsel.
He reminded that if the tanker was not held outside Porvoo, Southern Finland, it would be sailing on the Baltic Sea.
“The vessel does have supplies and food. If they need anything else, we’ll naturally take care of it. Of course we aren’t leaving people without something to eat,” he assured, adding that the shipping company and captain are responsible for looking after the crew.
“We don’t know how the captain has prepared [for the journey] and what kind of service the vessel has had.”
Porola told that a “larger group of people” was in the mess of the vessel as investigators examined the vessel but denied that authorities have prevented the crew from sleeping. “No one has tried to keep them awake,” he stressed.
He also reminded that because the vessel was at sea, the captain is responsible for making sure the crew is sufficiently large. “If the shipping company doesn’t rotate the crew, the crew will stay where they are.”
Elina Katajamäki, a detective chief inspector at KRP, told Helsingin Sanomat on Monday that KRP has yet to make any arrests or issue detention requests in the pre-trial investigation.
Eagle S is suspected of damaging a transmission link between Finland and Estonia, Estlink 2, on 25 December. Investigators have thus far discovered drag marks that stretch dozens if not almost a hundred kilometres on the seabed and determined that the marks were caused by the tanker’s anchor.
KRP is investigating the incident as aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with communications. Finnish Customs, in turn, has opened a provisional inquiry into a suspected regulation offence given the vessel’s role in the shadow fleet of Russia, a fleet of ships that have enabled the country to transport embargoed oil products and circumvent oil price caps.
KRP on Monday communicated that it is examining material obtained from equipment it has seized related to the journey of the vessel.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
