Four EU countries inspect Chinese vessel after undersea cables ruptured in November

Representatives from Germany, Finland and Denmark have boarded a Chinese cargo ship believed to be connected to the rupture of two data cables on the Baltic Sea bed in November.

Swedish police and Chinese officials were also part of the inspection of the Yi Peng 3 vessel which is anchored in international waters between Sweden and Denmark.

Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the visit was supposed to take place on Wednesday but was called off due to bad weather.

“It is our expectation that when the inspection is completed by this group of people from the four countries, the ship will be able to sail to its destination,” he told reporters.

The Yi Peng 3 has been anchored in the Kattegat Sea for a month while diplomats in Stockholm and Beijing discussed access to the vessel.

Sweden had formally asked China in November to cooperate with the investigation into how the undersea data cables were damaged after the China-flagged vessel was seen in the area.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said at the time that it was, “extremely important to find out exactly what happened.”

The two cables, one running from Finland to Germany and the other from Lithuania to Sweden, were both damaged in Swedish waters.

The Wall Street Journal reported in November that investigators suspected the Yi Peng 3 had deliberately severed the fibre-optic cables by dragging its anchor along the seabed.

In a post on X, NORSAR, the Norwegian foundation that tracks earthquakes and nuclear explosions, said it hadn’t detected any “seismic signals” in the area, indicating there hadn’t been any explosions.

The Yi Peng 3 has been anchored between Sweden and Denmark where it was being monitored by several vessels, including those belonging to the Danish navy.

“These types of incidents, they annoy all of us, obviously, and those who are interested in safe navigation and safety as such on the Baltic Sea and in countries in the Baltic Sea region,” said Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk at a press conference in November.

Tusk was referring to separate incidents which saw the Nord Stream pipelines and the Balticconnector damaged.

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which carried gas from Russia to Germany, were both damaged in explosions in 2022.

And the Balticconnector gas pipeline was seriously damaged the next year.

Finnish, Swedish and German authorities all launched investigations into the rupture of the two fibre-optic cables.

Germany’s defence minister said that the damage appeared to have been caused by sabotage.

Chinese authorities in Beijing said they had no information about the ship but denied any responsibility and said Beijing was ready to “maintain communication” with relevant parties.