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Sweden Urges Chinese Ship to Return for Undersea Cable Investigation

Yi Peng 3 passing under the Great Belt Bridge on November 19, 2024. (Source: Storebælt Bridge webcam)

Sweden Urges Chinese Ship to Return for Undersea Cable Investigation

Reuters
Total Views: 2105
November 26, 2024
Reuters

COPENHAGEN, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Sweden is asking a Chinese vessel to return to Swedish waters to help facilitate the Nordic country’s investigation into recent breaches of undersea fiber-optic cables in the Baltic Sea, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Tuesday.

Two subsea cables, one linking Finland and Germany and the other connecting Sweden to Lithuania, were damaged in less than 24 hours on Nov. 17-18, raising suspicions of sabotage, countries and companies involved said.

Denmark’s military have said its vessels were staying close to Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3, which traveled through the Baltic Sea at the time and now sits idle in international waters but inside Denmark’s exclusive economic zone.

German and Swedish Coast Guards Arrive Near ‘Yi Peng 3’ In Escalating Cable Damage Incident

The breaches occurred in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone, leading Swedish prosecutors to launch a preliminary investigation.

“From the Swedish side we have had contact with the ship and contact with China and said that we want the ship to move towards Swedish waters,” Kristersson told a press conference.

Baltic Sea nations, including Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, are coordinating the investigation as well as diplomatic contacts with China, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told news agency STT.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters she expected Beijing to cooperate on the matter.

The Chinese ship left the Russian port of Ust-Luga on Nov. 15 and was in the areas where the cable damage occurred, according to MarineTraffic vessel tracking data, which showed other ships had also been in the area.

“We’re not making any accusations but we seek clarity on what has happened,” Kristersson said.

“This is the second time in a relatively short period of time that there have been serious physical cable breaches,” he said.

Sweden was hopeful that China would respond positively to the request, Kristersson added.

China’s foreign ministry said on Monday that Beijing has maintained “smooth communication” with all parties involved.

Last year a subsea gas pipeline and several telecoms cables running along the bottom of the Baltic Sea were severely damaged, and Finnish police have said they believe the incident was caused by a Chinese ship dragging its anchor.

But the investigators have not said whether they believe the damage in 2023 was accidental or intentional.

(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, writing by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik and Philippa Fletcher)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024

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