"I think that the Estonian state should have reacted forcefully and more quickly as a state," Koort, head of the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences' Internal Security Institute, told "Vikerhommik" on Wednesday.

There were already suspicions in October 2023 that the Hong Kong-registered ship Newnew Polar Bear caused the damage, but the ship was not detained or investigated at the time.

"Maritime law allows boarding in very few cases. Cable breakage is not one of these cases. Maritime law does, however, allow boarding if there are grounds for suspecting terrorism or terrorists on board. I would put it this way: the suspicion of terrorism in the case of the breaking of a strategic undersea cable, which is actually important, is certainly not excessive," Koort told the show.

He said undersea cables rarely break accidentally or as a result of wear and tear. "[But] an anchor drifting unnoticed along the seabed for tens of kilometers, it does not seem very accidental," Koort said, referencing China's explanation for the damage.

The investigation also took a long time and should be a learning point for further proceedings, he added.

"And I have not noticed that the Prosecutor's Office has announced that they have received an official response from the Chinese. As you know, the current information comes from the Chinese press, not from official channels," he said.

Koort agreed with the presenters that Estonia should have been more active in the proceedings: "I think yes, definitely get on with it."

He also criticized the position put forward by the Ministry of Defense that Elering, the company that manages Estonia's foreign connections, should be responsible for protecting its undersea cables.

"A great deal depends on the position we take in public. As I recall, when the [Estonian-Finnish and Estonian-Swedish] gas pipelines had not yet broken and the discussions were driven by the blowing up of the Nord Stream gas pipeline [September 2022], the position of the Ministry of Defense at the time was that Elering should get its own undersea fleet or undersea drones and start monitoring. To a certain extent, it is certainly necessary to install these monitoring devices, but in Estonia, this type of naval capability is still only available to the Navy, and only after the merger of the Police and Border Guard Board fleet with the Navy. Statements of this type certainly do not add [force] to the state's position, nor do they discourage anyone when we say that the private sector should manage itself," said the expert.

A report authored by Koort recommends reviewing the legal space based on changing threats.

"The current Convention on the Law of the Sea dates largely from the 1980s. There has been a very significant increase in the number of cables on the seabed. Estonia has about 21 foreign connections and a dozen undersea cables, with both Finland and Sweden having electricity, data and pipeline connections," said Koort. "It has to be taken into account that Sweden may be somewhat inconvenienced by the interruption of data communication with us, but it is certainly more vital for us," he said.

Koort stressed that not all communication is transmitted via satellite, and a large part travels by undersea cable.

Additionally, the law regulates attacks on cables in a country's territorial waters, but is much weaker when it comes to international waters.

"For example, the same submarine cable between Estonia and Sweden or Estonia and Finland – both ends are NATO member states, but attacking it in international waters is not an attack on either country, or in any way on NATO. So in that respect, it certainly has to be taken very seriously and with an open mind, also looking to the future," Koort commented.

On October 8, 2023, the anchor of the Newnew Polar Bear broke the Balticconnector gas pipe in Finland's exclusive economic zone. On October 24, the Finnish authorities raised the anchor from the seabed.

On August 12, Hong Kong media reported that the Chinese authorities admitted the vessel caused the damage in an internal investigation. The results were then passed on to the governments of European countries. According to China's explanation, the accident was caused by a strong storm.

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