EU vessels surround anchored Chinese ship after Baltic Sea cables are severed
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A view of the anchor of the Chinese ship, the bulk carrier Yi Peng 3, in the sea of Kattegat, near the City of Grenaa in Jutland, Denmark on Nov 20, 2024.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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For more than a week, a Chinese commercial ship has apparently been forced to anchor in the Baltic Sea, surrounded and monitored by naval and coast guard vessels from European countries as the authorities attempt to unravel a maritime mystery.
The development arose after two undersea fibre-optic cables were severed, and investigators from a task force that includes Finland, Sweden and Lithuania are trying to determine if the ship’s crew intentionally cut the cables by dragging the ship’s anchor along the sea floor.
On Nov 27, Swedish police announced that the inquiry into the episode had concluded but that an investigation was ongoing. Sweden did not release any initial findings.
US intelligence officials had assessed that the cables were not cut deliberately, though the authorities in Europe say they have not been able to rule out sabotage.
“The preliminary investigation was initiated because it cannot be ruled out that the cables were deliberately damaged,” superintendent Per Engstrom of the Swedish police said in a statement on Nov 27.
“The current classification of the crime is sabotage, though this may change.”
Denmark has said it is in “ongoing dialogue” with various countries, including China.
The mystery of the severed cable and who is to blame comes as Europe is increasingly on edge after a number of apparent sabotage operations, including arson attacks, vandalism and physical assaults. Many of these have been attributed to Russian intelligence operatives, including a plot that emerged in October, Western officials say, to put incendiary devices on cargo planes.
The case surrounding the commercial ship in the Baltic Sea is somewhat different. That ship – a bulk carrier called the Yi Peng 3 – travels under a Chinese flag. The ship, owned by Ningbo Yipeng Shipping, set off from the Russian port of Ust-Luga in the Baltic Sea on Nov 15, according to Marine Traffic, a commercial ship tracking agency. From there, it travelled nearly the full length of the Baltic Sea.
The first cable connecting Lithuania and Sweden was cut on the morning of Nov 17. The second one, connecting Finland and Germany, was cut the following morning. The damage disrupted some data transfers but did not cut internet connections in any of the countries, authorities said.
Now, investigators are sifting through analyses as ships from nearby countries are patrolling near the Chinese ship. NYTIMES
