Baltic sea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia shut down

OSLO: Finland’s government plans to hold a news conference later on Tuesday regarding the sudden outage of a gas pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia, Finish media reported on Tuesday.

The Finnish prime minister’s office was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.

The Balticconnector link was shut early on Sunday on concerns that gas was leaking from a hole in the 77-km (48 miles) pipeline. Finnish operator Gasgrid said it could take months or more to repair if a leak is confirmed.

No potential causes for the outage could be ruled out for the time being, including sabotage, a spokesperson for Estonian gas system operator Elering said on Monday.

The pipeline between Inkoo in Finland and Paldiski in Estonia crosses the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea that stretches eastwards into Russian waters and ends at the port of St Petersburg.

Finland’s tabloid Iltalehti (IL) has reported that both the government and the Finnish Defence Forces suspect Russian involvement in the recent incident involving the Balticconnector pipeline. Citing an anonymous foreign and security policy source, IL broke the news about a planned press conference scheduled for 2 pm, which was expected to address the unexplained pipeline leak, describing the situation as “serious.”

As of 3 pm, no official statement had been issued on the government’s website or social media accounts regarding the incident. Subsequently, IL announced that the press conference had been postponed and would take place “at some point on Tuesday,” with the participation of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen, both from the National Coalition Party (NCP).

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The Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo) and the Finnish Border Guard are actively involved in the ongoing investigation of the incident. While Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) initially announced an upcoming statement on the case for Tuesday afternoon, this was subsequently canceled without explanation.

Gasgrid Finland and the Estonian gas network operator Elering reported an unusual pressure drop in the Balticconnector pipeline, connecting the two countries, shortly before 2 am on Sunday. Gasgrid Finland indicated that the probable cause of the pressure drop is a hole in the pipeline, which has only been in operation for a few years. The leak may result in the pipeline being out of use for months.

Cooperation between authorities and companies in situations affecting critical infrastructure is standard practice, according to Supo. However, the agency did not specify its role in the ongoing probe. Notably, Supo lacks preliminary investigation powers, with the NBI responsible for any potential criminal investigation. The NBI declined to comment on whether any measures were being taken in the case.

On Tuesday afternoon, Supo announced that the Prime Minister’s Office would oversee any announcements related to the incident. To date, authorities have not officially confirmed whether the pipeline leak is the result of intentional damage.

Commander Kimmo Ahvonen, Communications Director for the Border Guard, emphasized the organization’s close cooperation with companies that own critical infrastructure. He stated that the Border Guard is conducting investigations to the extent possible at sea within its capabilities but has no precise information regarding the leak’s location.

The Balticconnector marine gas pipeline, which opened in 2020, connects Inkoo, Finland, with Paldiski, Estonia, with Inkoo located approximately 60 km west of Helsinki and Paldiski about 50 km west of Tallinn.

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