A Chinese commercial bulk carrier is suspected of having deliberately cut two Baltic Sea data cables critical to regional communications and security last week. The Yi Peng 3 allegedly dragged its anchor for over 100 miles along the seabed, aiming to damage or cut the cables that connect Finland and Germany, and Sweden, and Lithuania. The Chinese ship was transporting Russian fertilizer at the time.
Currently, the Yi Peng 3 is surrounded by European warships in international waters. Investigators are believed to have boarded the vessel to review the cause of the severing. The incident could escalate tensions between Europe and the United States on one side and Russia and China on the other.
The European investigators are seeking to determine whether the Yi Peng 3’s captain was induced or colluded with Russian intelligence. According to its logs, the commercial bulk carrier left the Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga on November 15. If a Russian intelligence connection is established, it will mark the latest in a series of sabotage efforts against Western powers.
“It’s extremely unlikely that the captain would not have noticed that his ship dropped and dragged its anchor, losing speed for hours and cutting cables on the way,” a European investigator involved in the case told The Wall Street Journal.
Ningbo Yipeng Shipping—which owns the Yi Peng 3—says it is cooperating with the investigation.
