The Danish Navy has detained the Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3suspected of having damaged telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea, as reported by Defensa24. The arrest took place in Danish territorial waters, in the Danish Strait at the exit of the Great Beltand was carried out by the patrol P525. Subsequently, the ship HDMS Soeloevenspecialized in underwater work, joined the operation.
He Yi Peng 3which sailed from the Russian port of Ust-Up toward Port Said in Egypt, passed close to the Swedish-Lithuanian and Finnish-German submarine cables at the time they were cut, according to MarineTraffic data. This incident has raised concerns in Europe about possible acts of sabotagereported the Financial Times.
Swedish authorities have launched an investigation to determine the role of the Yi Peng 3 in the cable cutsaccording to people familiar with the investigation. Although the Swedish government has not officially commented on the Chinese vessel, an official indicated that the police investigation will be carried out in cooperation with the coast guard and armed forces.
According to the Financial Times, this incident occurs just over a year after another Chinese ship, the container ship Newnew Polar Bear, damaged a Baltic gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia. Authorities in these countries have not confirmed whether the damage was intentional or accidental.
The German Defense Minister Boris Pistoriusdeclared that the cutting of the fiber optic cables was probably an act of sabotage and called it a hybrid war. “No one believes that these cables were accidentally cut.”said Pistorius.
He Yi Peng 3 is property of Ningbo Yipeng Shippinga company based near the Chinese port city of Ningbo. A company representative told the Financial Times that The Chinese government has requested your cooperation in the investigationbut did not provide further details.
The Chinese embassy in Stockholm declared it had no information on the matter.while the embassy in Helsinki did not respond to requests for comment. The United States has expressed concern about hybrid warfare and is attentive to the results of ongoing investigations, according to statements by State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Finnish authorities have urged caution and advised against jumping to conclusions. However, the governments of Germany, Sweden, Finland and Lithuania have expressed deep concern about the cutting of the undersea cables.
The ministers of these countries have stressed the growing threat posed by Russia in the region and have urged the European Union to use its sanctions regime most recent to address this type of sabotage of critical infrastructure.
As reported by the Financial Times, the C-Lion1 fiber optic cablewhich stretches 1,200 kilometers between Helsinki and Rostock, was cut off near Sweden. The Finnish operator Cinia indicated that the damage was probably caused by a “external force”.
The foreign ministers of Germany and Finland issued a joint statement expressing concern over the incident, highlighting that the immediate suspicion of intentional damage reflects the volatility of current times. This event occurs in a context of alert among NATO countries in the Baltic Sea, especially after the unresolved gas pipeline explosions. Nord Stream.
On September 26, 2022, explosions that damaged the pipes of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea. These gas pipelines, which transported natural gas from Russia to Europeespecially to Germanythey suffered massive leaks after the detonations. Investigations suggest that the explosions were caused deliberately, although those responsible have not yet been identified.
Pistorius described the incident as a “hybrid” warfare tactica strategy that has been attributed to Russia on several occasions. NATO and its members have intensified surveillance of underwater infrastructure, aware of the risks of sabotage.
Elina Valtonen, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland, and her German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, emphasized the importance of protect shared critical infrastructures for the security and resilience of European societies. Both ministers confirmed that an investigation is being carried out to determine the causes of the cable cut.
In addition, the Swedish operator Telia reported damage to another communications cable between Sweden and Lithuania, which occurred almost 24 hours before the incident between Finland and Germany.
Valtonen stated that Finland would not hesitate to attribute responsibility for a hybrid act if it was established that Russia or another country was behind it.
The repair of the C-Lion1 cable could take between five and fifteen days, according to Cinia, who also mentioned the possibility that the damage was caused by the anchor of a boat or fishing vessel. No signs of seismic activity that could have affected the connection have been detected.
In one joint declarationthe foreign ministers of Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom warned that Russia is carrying out an escalation of hybrid activities against NATO and EU countries. They underlined the need for closer cooperation and to allocate more resources to European security and defence.
