The crew of the Chinese vessel Yi Peng 3 is suspected of damaging submarine cables in the Baltic Sea

C-Lion1 submarine cable. Source: Yle

The crew of a Chinese vessel is suspected of deliberately dragging its anchor 160 km to cut Baltic cables at sea.

Here's What We Know

According to the WSJ, a Chinese cargo ship carrying Russian fertilisers may have deliberately cut two data cables between Finland and Germany, Sweden and Lithuania. This happened when the vessel was anchored along the bottom of the Baltic Sea for more than 160 kilometres.

The investigation is currently focused on whether the captain of the Chinese vessel was recruited by Russian intelligence. According to law enforcement officials, it is unlikely that the captain did not see the abandoned anchor, which slowed the ship for hours and tore cables along the way.

The C-Lion1 submarine cable. Illustration: Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva

The bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 left the Russian port of Ust-Luga on 15 November, and the damage to the cables was reported on 18 November, when the C-Lion1 telecommunications cable between Finland and Germany was briefly out of service. The connection between the two countries was interrupted, but ordinary people did not notice it. Seismologist Toni Veikkolainen from the University of Helsinki's Institute of Seismology said that no signs of a possible explosion have been found so far.

Source: WSJ