European investigators suspect that the crew of a Chinese bulk carrier deliberately dragged its anchor more than 100 miles to cut two underwater cables in the Baltic Sea earlier this month, according to new reports.
NATO warships from Denmark, Germany and Sweden surrounded the 225-meter-long Yipeng 3 vessel in international waters between Sweden and Denmark for more than a week to investigate the ship’s role in the incident.
However, Western law enforcement and intelligence officials told wall street journal They don’t believe the Chinese government is involved. The investigation is said to focus on whether Russian officials allowed the captain to commit acts of sabotage after the ship left the Russian port of Ust-Luga, The Wall Street Journal and The Wall Street Journal reported. enjet.
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The ship’s owner, Ningbo Yipeng Shipping, is said to be cooperating with the investigation and allowing the ship to remain in international waters, but the company has so far declined to comment.
Swedish officials urged the captain of a Chinese cargo ship to return to Swedish waters on Tuesday to assist in the investigation that began after the incident. Cutting of two underwater cables on November 17 and 18local media reported.
The Wall Street Journal stated that the first cable between Sweden and Lithuania was cut at 10 a.m. on November 17, and the second cable between Finland and Germany was cut at 3 a.m. the next day, and then the ship Start zigzagging, lift anchor and leave.
Investigators allegedly found damage to the vessel’s anchor and hull consistent with a dragging anchor and cut cables. Analysts said the likelihood of the incident becoming an accident was low because the weather was mild and there were only small waves.
The ship’s captain is said to be a Chinese citizen but has a Russian crew. They don’t appear to have been interviewed yet.
The Wall Street Journal said the Kremlin described claims of sabotage as “ridiculous” and “unsubstantiated,” while noting that Western officials “remained silent as Ukraine blew up the Nord Stream gas pipeline.”
Chinese officials in Beijing said all ships were required to strictly abide by international law.
Seeking ‘clarification’ on cable incident
Meanwhile, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Thursday (November 28) that Swedish authorities are seeking “clarification” from China about what happened to two optical cables last week.
“I can tell you today that we have also issued a formal request to cooperate with the Swedish authorities to find out what happened,” he told a news conference. “We expect that China will choose to cooperate in accordance with our request. ”
Christerson stressed that he “will not be pressing any charges” but wanted “clarification on what happened.”
european news report Anders Lomholt, a defense reporter for Denmark’s 2nd TV station, said the Chinese ship slowed down as it passed other cables and came to a complete stop when it reached the last cable.
According to the report, Lomholt said in an interview with Jens Wenzel Christofferson of the Nordic defense analysis company that it is “not normal behavior” for a “merchant ship” to stop motionless on the cable.
Swedish authorities declined to comment on the Danish or Wall Street Journal reports, but some said the anchoring theory was feasible because there were no seismic signals to indicate an explosion, as there was when the NordStream pipeline was breached in September 2022.
In a separate incident in October 2023, the BalticConnector natural gas pipeline was also severely damaged. Finnish investigators discovered the anchor of a large ship near the scene, which was connected to a Chinese container ship, the Xinxin Polar Bear. The Wall Street Journal stated that Russian sailors were on the ship at the time of the incident.
China admitted responsibility for the incident in August but claimed it was caused by a powerful storm, Reuters reported. South China Morning Post.
The Wall Street Journal stated that an American scholar at the University of Pennsylvania said that the “Yipeng 3” only operated in Chinese waters from the end of 2019 to March this year, when it suddenly began transporting Russian coal and other cargo from Russian ports. According to Kepler, it is currently shipping Russian fertilizer.
one guardian Reports on Thursday quoted Swedish prosecutors as saying: “The cable between Sweden and Lithuania, owned by a Swedish company, was damaged on November 17. The cable between Finland and Germany, which lies south of the Sweden-Lithuania cable, was It was damaged a few hours later. Both damaged locations were within the Swedish economic zone.
Nordic and Baltic leaders now classify the Baltic Sea as a “high-risk area” but have been careful not to describe the latest incident as “disruption” until there is absolute evidence to confirm this.
Operator Arelion said the good news is that the first cable between Sweden and Lithuania has been repaired.
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