Sweden’s prime minister asked a Chinese bulk carrier, suspected of cutting two undersea fiber-optic cables in the Baltic Sea, to return to its water as Stockholm’s investigation continues, US Naval Institute News reports.
“We’re not making any accusations, but we seek clarity on what has happened,” Ulf Kristersson said at a press conference. He added Swedish authorities have been in contact with Yi Peng 3, which left Russian port Ust Luga on Nov. 15 with the likely destination of Port Said, Egypt.
Swedish investigators have not said they whether they believe the latest cable cuts were accidental or deliberate.
On Monday, China’s Foreign Ministry said “smooth communication” is being maintained with all parties involved, which includes Denmark, Lithuania and Germany.
In a joint statement shortly after the breach was discovered, the German and Swedish governmentssaid they were investigating “an incident [that] immediately raises suspicions of intentional damage.” Europe’s security is threatened by Russia’s war against Ukraine and “hybrid warfare by malicious actors,” the joint statement said, without naming the actors.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said last week “no one believes that these cables were cut accidentally” after a rupture in a 730-mile cable linking Germany and Finland was detected.
“We have to state, without knowing specifically who it came from, that it is a ‘hybrid’ action,” he said. “And we also have to assume, without knowing it yet, that it is sabotage.”
Shortly after Pistorius spoke, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a regular news briefing, “it is quite absurd to continue to blame Russia for everything without any reason.”
News accounts report the Chinese vessel is not moving now but is in Denmark’s exclusive economic zone. Danish military authorities are closely monitoring the ship.
The breaching of the cables – one linking Finland and Germany and the other Sweden and Lithuania – occurred in a day’s span between Nov. 17 and 18.
Swedish and Finnish authorities already launched a criminal investigation into the incident, Alexander Lott, an expert on law of the sea at Norway’s Arctic University, wrote in Tuesday’s West Point “Articles of War” series. He added the vessel has a Russian captain.
The Yi Peng 3 exited the Baltic Sea via the Danish Great Belt, accompanied by Danish Navy warships, Lott wrote. In then stopped in the Kattegat, which contains a EEZ corridor established by Denmark and Sweden.
As of Monday, the Chinese ship remains in the Danish part of the Kattegat. Royal Danish Navy, Russian and German warships, as well as Swedish Coast Guard Ships, were sighted in the area, too, Lott wrote.
There have been no reported movements to board the Chinese vessel. There also is no direct evidence linking the bulk carrier to the breaches.
The Swedish prime minister added in his Tuesday press conference, “this is the second time in a relatively short period of time that there have been serious physical cable breaches.” He said he was hopeful China would respond positively to the request.
Beijing admitted in August that another Chinese merchant vessel dragging anchor had accidentally cut a gas pipeline and telecommunication cables in the Baltic between Finland and Estonia the year before.
European investigators have not said whether they believe the 2023 incident was accidental.
The two cable cutting incidents and the 2022 mysterious explosions of the Nord Steam 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines highlight how vulnerable these pieces of critical infrastructure are to attack by terrorists or governments operating in the “gray zone” of conflict.
Those explosions are still under investigation by the German judiciary.
