Crew on board an oil tanker accused of sabotaging undersea power and communications cables in the Baltic Sea were poised to cut other cables and pipelines when Finnish authorities boarded the vessel last month,

Finnish police have reported finding the anchor responsible for severing an undersea internet cable connecting Finland to Estonia. Last month, Finland detained the Eagle S, an oil tanker transporting Russian oil,

NATO launched a new Baltic Sea mission that will add military capabilities into the strategic waterway as concerns over suspected Russian sabotage and aggression in the area ratchet up.

Finnish police said on Tuesday they had recovered a lost anchor from the seabed as part of an investigation of suspected sabotage against power and internet cables in the Baltic Sea.

Estonian naval ships are taking part in stepped-up patrols in the Baltic Sea by NATO countries after undersea power and communications cables have been damaged in recent months.