Cables in the Baltic Sea may have been damaged by a Chinese ship's anchor

According to the investigation, the Chinese dry cargo ship Yi Peng 3 may have deliberately dragged its anchor along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to damage two communication cables between Finland, Lithuania and Germany.

This is stated in the publication of The Wall Street Journal.

Investigators suspect that last week the Yi Peng 3 deliberately severed two critical data cables when its anchor was dragged along the bottom of the Baltic Sea for more than 160 kilometers.

According to the investigation, on November 17 at about 9:00 p.m. local time, the ship dropped anchor, but remained afloat in Swedish waters, and soon a cable was damaged between Sweden and Lithuania, the publication says.

The ship's transponder was turned off, but at the same time the Yi Peng 3 continued to move even when the anchor significantly reduced its speed.

Furthermore, according to the WSJ, at about 3:00 a.m. on November 18, having traveled more than 660 kilometers, the Yi Peng 3 cut the second cable – between Germany and Finland, after which it began to move in zigzags, raised anchor and continued moving.

Danish Navy ships intercepted the Yi Peng 3 and forced it to anchor in the Kattegat Strait, which connects the Baltic and North Seas. An inspection of the anchor and hull of the vessel showed damage indicating that the anchor had been dragged and cables had been broken, the sources said.

The investigation is now investigating whether the captain of the Chinese vessel had contact with Russian intelligence before the sabotage.

“It is highly unlikely that the captain would not have noticed that his vessel had sunk and dragged its anchor behind it, losing speed for several hours and cutting cables along the way,” – a senior European investigator involved in the investigation told the WSJ.

On November 18, it became known that a communication cable between Lithuania and Sweden, which runs in the Baltic Sea, was damaged. On the same day, for unknown reasons, a cable between Finland and Germany broke.

Germany and Finland have launched a joint investigation into damage to an underwater communication cable connecting their territories. The incident is a major concern amid strained relations with Russia.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the damage to the C-Lion1 telecommunications cable that runs along the bottom of the Baltic Sea was likely the result of sabotage.

Sweden has asked a Chinese ship that passed near damaged communications cables in the Baltic Sea to move into Swedish territorial waters to help investigate the incident.