Balticconnector is a bi-directional natural gas pipeline between

Ingå Ingå (; , ) is a municipality in Finland, located in the southern coast of the country. Ingå is situated in the western part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Ingå is approximately , while the Raseborg sub-region, sub-region has a popul ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and

Paldiski Paldiski is a seaside Populated places in Estonia, town in northwestern Estonia, located on the Pakri Peninsula and adjacent Pakri Islands, Pakri islands in the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea. It is the administrative centre of the Lääne- ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

operated by Gasgrid Finland and Elering. It connects the Estonian and Finnish gas grids, and provides Finland with access to the Inčukalns underground gas storage facility in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. The subsea pipeline and a nearby data cable were damaged in October 2023. The pipeline was repaired and began operation again after six months. The Chinese authorities reported that the anchor of the Hong Kong-flagged ship

NewNew Polar Bear ''Newnew Polar Bear'' is a Hong Kong-registered feeder container ship. The vessel damaged the Balticconnector natural gas pipeline in the Gulf of Finland in October 2023 by dragging its anchor for several hundred nautical miles. Description ...

was responsible for breaking the pipeline. The Chinese authorities concluded it was an accident, while "both the Estonian and Finnish inquiries are ongoing."

Technical description

The project consists of of a bi-directional offshore pipeline between Ingå in Finland and Paldiski in Estonia, of onshore pipeline in Finland between Ingå and Siuntio, and of onshore pipeline in Estonia between Paldiski and Kiili. There are also metering and compressor stations in Ingå and in Kersalu, Estonia. The offshore part is operated jointly by Elering and Baltic Connector, while onshore sections of the pipeline will be developed separately by each party. Originally, there was also a proposal for alternative long route from

Vuosaari Vuosaari () is a Subdivisions of Helsinki#Neighbourhoods, neighbourhood in the city of Helsinki, Finland. It is located by the sea in East Helsinki and with its area of is geographically the largest district in the city. It also has two Helsi ...

(district of Helsinki) to Paldiski. The offshore section and the Finnish onshore section use pipes with an operating pressure of . The Estonian onshore section uses a pipe with an operating pressure of . In Estonia the pipeline is connected to the existing transmission pipeline from Latvia, which will be enhanced. The initial capacity of pipeline is . Later, it will increase up to . The pipeline cost €300 million, of which 206 million were financed by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

. The onshore section in Estonia was built by EG Ehitus AS, a subsidiary of Eesti Gaas, and the offshore section was built by Allseas. The offshore pipeline was laid by the pipe-laying vessel ''Lorelay''. Pipes were supplied by Corinth Pipeworks Pipe Industry S.A.,

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

History

The project was proposed originally by the Finnish natural gas company Gasum in cooperation with Eesti Gaas of Estonia. After implementation of the EU third energy package, EG Võrguteenus, a former subsidiary of Eesti Gaas, replaced the latter. Later EG Võrguteenus was acquired by, and became a part of the Estonian transmission system operator Elering. In October 2015, Gasum abandoned the project due to commercial viability. It was replaced by the Finnish state-owned company Baltic Connector OY. The feasibility study was completed in May 2007. A preliminary

environmental impact assessment Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental impact, environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the te ...

programme was done in 2010. In 2010, the

financed the investigation of possibilities to create more diversified natural gas grid within the

Baltic Sea Region The Baltic Sea Region, alternatively the Baltic Rim countries (or simply the Baltic Rim), and the Baltic Sea countries/states, refers to the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea, including parts of Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. Un ...

, which included also the Balticconnector project. The seabed studies started in November 2013. The construction agreement was signed between Elering and Baltic Connector on 17 October 2016. The cornerstone of the pipeline was laid on 8 June 2018 in

. The ceremony was attended by Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure of Estonia

Kadri Simson Kadri Simson (née Must, born 22 January 1977) is an Estonian politician, formerly from the Centre Party, who served as the European Commissioner for Energy in the von der Leyen Commission between 2019 and 2024. Early life Simson graduated fr ...

, Minister of the Environment and Energy of Finland Kimmo Tiilikainen, European Commission member Jyrki Katainen and the managers of Elering and Baltic Connector Oy. Laying the offshore pipeline started on 20 May 2019 and was completed on 24 June 2019. Shielding of the offshore section were completed by 12 July 2019. The onshore section in Estonia was filled with gas on 23 October 2019 and the offshore section was filled with gas on 27 November 2019. The pipeline was inaugurated on 11 December 2019 by ceremonies in Helsinki and Paldiski. The ceremonies were attended by presidents of Estonia and Finland

Kersti Kaljulaid Kersti Kaljulaid (; born 30 December 1969) is an Estonia, Estonian politician who served as the fifth president of Estonia between 2016 and 2021, and was its first and only female head of state since the country declared independence in 1918. S ...

and Sauli Niinistö, ministers of economy Taavi Aas and Mika Lintilä, Deputy Director-General of European Commission Energy Directorate Klaus-Dieter Borchardt and the managers of Elering and Baltic Connector Oy. Balticconnector started commercial operations on 1 January 2020. During the first month of operation it supplied over a third of Finnish gas demand, 885 GWh. By comparison, the domestic Estonian consumption was 565 GWh. After the commissioning of a gas interconnection between

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

in 2022, Estonia and (via the Balticconnector) Finland have been connected to the Polish and internal EU gas markets, and vice versa; Estonia received LNG shipments via Inkoo LNG terminal in May 2023. In the wake of the February 2022

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, the northeastern European states decided to sanction the Russian Federation and their gas supply. Past supply to the Balticconnector was from Russia but from 2023 LSEG data showed the shipping terminals at

Klaipėda Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...

and

favoured gas from the United States and Norway. In June 2024 the EU officially sanctioned Russian LNG supply in their 14th package.

2023 damage incident

As of 2023, the pipeline was transporting 30 GWh/day from Finland to Estonia. On 8 October 2023, around 02:00 local time, the two operating companies Gasgrid Finland and Elering (Estonia) noticed a sudden drop in pressure in the line, from 34.5 bar to 12 bar, and then to 6 bar. The operators closed the valves to stop the flow. They later discovered a leak caused by a damaged pipe in the sea. The EE-S1 telecoms cable, near the pipeline, was also damaged. On 10 October 2023, the Finnish government announced that the damage to the pipeline may have been deliberate and caused by "external activity". The leak is being investigated by the

Finnish Border Guard The Finnish Border Guard (FBG, ; ) is the agency responsible for enforcing the security of Finland's borders. Duties Main duties of the Finnish Border Guard: * Protecting the land borders and territorial waters of Finland from unauthorised e ...

and the Finnish Security Intelligence Service. Norwegian seismological institute NORSAR reported that it detected a "probable explosion" 40 km north of Paldiski (roughly where Balticconnector and Nord Stream intersect) on the 8 October at 01:20 local time. A few days later investigators stated the damage "appears to have been mechanical, not an explosion". On 11 October 2023, an Estonian Navy commander stated that Finnish images of the damage showed the pipeline's concrete cover had been broken off and the pipeline was badly damaged on one side and out of position. A Finnish member of the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats suggested that one possibility was that a ship's

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

had dragged over the pipeline. Five large ships had been near the pipeline shortly before the incident. Finland's National Bureau of Investigations opened an investigation into the potential "intentional damaging" of the pipeline by the Chinese vessel in response. Balticconnector-damage-2023

On 21 October 2023, Finnish authorities reported that the Chinese ship ''

Newnew Polar Bear ''Newnew Polar Bear'' is a Hong Kong-registered feeder container ship. The vessel damaged the Balticconnector natural gas pipeline in the Gulf of Finland in October 2023 by dragging its anchor for several hundred nautical miles. Description ...

'' was in the area at the time of the incident and that the role of this ship is being investigated. On 24 October 2023, it was reported that Finnish authorities had observed gouges in the seabed starting on one side of the pipeline and ending the other side, near where they found a damaged ship's anchor, missing much of one fluke. The anchor was recovered; the ''NewNew Polar Bear'' is reported to be missing an anchor. During the outage, gas supply to the Finnish gas network is based on the FSRU Exemplar, a floating regasification plant with a capacity of 40 TWh/year moored at the port of Inkoo. Gas can also be supplied from the LNG terminal in

Hamina Hamina (; , , Sweden ) is a List of cities in Finland, town and a Municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located approximately east of the country's capital Helsinki, in the Kymenlaakso Regions of Finland, region, and formerly ...

at 6 GWh/day and from

biogas Biogas is a gaseous renewable energy source produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, Wastewater treatment, wastewater, and food waste. Biogas is produced by anaerobic ...

plants. The pipeline operators state that repairs will take at least five months, with an earliest projected restart in April 2024. On 27 October Estonian PM Kaja Kallas aired her suspicions of foul play. The offshore pipeline repair project was led by Norwegian energy major

Equinor Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. It is primarily a petroleum company, petroleum company operating in 36 countries with additional investments in renew ...

, on behalf of operators Gasgrid Finland and Estonian electricity transmission grid operator Elering. The pipeline resumed commercial operation after repairs were completed on 22 April 2024. On 12 August 2024, the Chinese government admitted the incident was the fault of NewNew Shipping Line "by accident" caused by "a strong storm". Estonian investigating authorities had submitted a request to the Chinese government "to gather evidence from the vessel and its crew" but this request had still to be permitted. On 8 May 2025, the captain of the ship was reportedly remanded in custody in Hong Kong. He is suspected of one count of criminal damage, two counts of violation of local marine by-laws, and of breaching navigation safety protocols.

Reactions

Estonia's president,

Alar Karis Alar Karis (; born 26 March 1958) is an Estonian molecular geneticist, developmental biologist, civil servant and politician who, since 11 October 2021, has served as the sixth president of Estonia. Prior to presidency Karis was born in Tar ...

, demanded answers on how the incident could have taken place, stating, "We know that the cause is not nature, but probably human activity. Who, why and how? Negligence or intent? These questions have yet to be answered." In Finland, the government suggested that "everything indicates" that the Chinese ship damaged the pipeline on purpose with its Minister of European Affairs Anders Adlercreutz saying it's hard to believe that it was not intentional or done without Beijing's knowledge.

References

External links