Media: Chinese Vessel Tried To Damage Danish Cables As Well

• 18.12.2024, 12:03

The vessel behaved atypically.

Danish media report that the Chinese vessel Yi Peng 3, suspected of damaging submarine cables in the Baltic Sea, also tried to damage cables near the Danish island of Læsø.

According to the Danish TV channel TV2, sonar images show wide dark lines on the route of the Yi Peng 3 in November, err.ee reports.

TV2 contacted three experts who agreed that the evidence confirms suspicions regarding the Yi Peng 3. The vessel behaved atypically: it slowed down while passing over two electrical cables and one data cable.

Communication cables between Finland and Germany, as well as between Sweden and Lithuania, were damaged on November 17 and 18 in Swedish territorial waters. The Chinese vessel Yi Peng 3 is suspected of being involved in the incident, as it was in the cable rupture zone at the time of the incident, according to maritime monitoring portals.

Yi Peng 3 has been in the Kattegat Strait since November 19, surrounded by Danish, Swedish and German warships. Denmark is negotiating with its neighbors, but the details of the discussions have not been disclosed.

On Monday, the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, citing government sources involved in the investigation, reported that Russian intelligence had instructed the captain of the Yi Peng 3 to cut the communication cables with an anchor.

At the same time, Finnish President Alexander Stubb made it clear in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat that the information provided by The Wall Street Journal is not true. According to Stubb, he does not have information similar to that shared by the WSJ.

“Based on the information I have, it is extremely difficult to accept The Wall Street Journal's interpretation of what happened,” Stubb said.

The investigation is ongoing, he said. Russia's involvement in the cable damage cannot yet be proven. Finland is in talks with China, Sweden and Denmark.