DIGITAL LIFE

Submarine cables would have been cut by a Chinese ship at the behest of Russia

A new incident involving submarine cables has further increased tensions in Europe. A commercial ship from China was intercepted by European warships on suspicion of having sabotaged the structures.

Investigations indicate that the Yi Peng 3 crew had deliberately cut two submarine cables installed at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The ship was loaded with fertilizer from Russia, suggesting, according to European officials, Moscow's involvement.

Satellite data indicates that the ship would have released the drag anchor around 9 pm local time on November 17 and then continued its journey, even without collecting the equipment.

In total, he would have covered almost 180 kilometers before reaching anchor.

Danish Navy ships then ended up intercepting the Yi Peng 3, forcing it to anchor in the Kattegat Strait, which connects the Baltic and North Seas.

A review of the vessel's anchor and hull showed consistent damage.

According to investigators, it is extremely unlikely that the captain did not notice that his ship dragged the anchor for so long, losing speed for hours and cutting cables along the way.

The ship's Chinese owner, Ningbo Yipeng Shipping, is cooperating with the investigation and allowed the vessel to be stopped in international waters. The company declined to comment. The information is from The Wall Street Journal.

The two cables – the BCS East-West, which connects Lithuania and Sweden, and the C-Lion1, which connects Finland and Germany – were suddenly cut on Sunday (17) and Monday (18). European leaders were quick to express their suspicions. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said that “no one believes that these cables were cut accidentally”. The foreign ministers of Finland and Germany said in a joint statement that they were “deeply concerned” by the incident and raised the possibility that it was part of a “hybrid war”, specifically mentioning Russia in their statement. Their assessment was not taken out of thin air. Russia has been accused of waging a hybrid war against Europe after a series of suspicious incidents, arson attacks, explosions and other acts of sabotage in several European countries were traced back to Moscow.

Russia is suspected of sabotage...Investigators are now trying to find out whether the captain of the Chinese-owned vessel, which left the Russian port of Ust-Luga on November 15, was following orders from the Russian government. The Yi Peng 3 crew is captained by a citizen of China and includes a sailor from Russia, who has not yet given a statement.

Several Western law enforcement and intelligence officials have said they do not believe the Chinese government was involved in the incident, but that they suspect Russian intelligence agencies were behind the sabotage.

The Russian government said the accusations were absurd and unfounded. China stressed that it works with all countries to maintain the security of international submarine cables and other infrastructure in accordance with international law.

The first cable cut is between Sweden and Lithuania. The second is installed between Germany and Finland. No further information was released about the extent of the damage caused by the incidents.

mundophone