Chuck Darwin<p>A day after the C-Lion1 and BCS <a href="https://c.im/tags/subsea" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>subsea</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/data" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>data</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/cables" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cables</span></a> in the Baltic Sea, connecting Finland and Germany as well as Sweden and Lithuania, were damaged, specifics of the incident remain unconfirmed. </p><p>The incident is reminiscent of a similar event in 2023 when the Balticonnector between Finland and Estonia was damaged. <br>Hong Kong-registered container vessel NewNew Polar Bear was later found to have dragged its anchor across the pipeline.
<br>Danish authorities appear to have narrowed down a possible culprit to Chinese bulker Yi Peng 3, <br>which traveled over the reported incident site at the time of the failure. <br>Its AIS track shows the vessel drifting back and forth for around an hour the morning of November 18.</p><p>By the time Yi Peng 3 reached Danish waters the country’s Navy had dispatched several vessels shadowing the vessel. <br>Online reports suggest that a Danish pilot was placed onboard the vessel during the afternoon of November 19 as it continued passing through Danish Straits.<br>AIS data show several Danish patrol vessels in the vicinity of Yi Peng 3 and shorebased webcams confirm Navy vessels loosely following in its wake.</p><p>The foreign ministers of Germany and Finland issued a joint statement expressing concern about the incident. </p><p>“The fact that such an incident immediately raises suspicions of intentional damage speaks volumes about the volatility of our times,” the statement reads.</p><p>“A thorough investigation is underway. Our European security is not only under threat from Russia‘s war of aggression against Ukraine, <br>but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors. <br>Safeguarding our shared critical infrastructure is vital to our security and the resilience of our societies,” <br>the statement continued.</p><p>Incidents with damage to subsea cables and pipelines across Europe have increased in recent years, <br>including in the Arctic. </p><p>In 2022 Norway reported that an undersea fiber optic cable connecting a satellite ground station on Svalbard to the Norwegian mainland was severed. </p><p>Norwegian media reported a Russian vessel traveling back and forth several times over the damaged section.</p><p>The Finnish investigation of the NewNew Polar Bear incident concluded that the vessel dropped its anchor during a storm <br>dragging it over the Balticonnector pipeline. </p><p>The vessel had been spotted with a missing anchor during its first port call following the incident. </p><p>After initial stonewalling by Chinese authorities <br>Finnish counterparts launched their own investigation and eventually admitted that the pipeline’s damage was caused by NewNew Polar Bear. </p><p>Like Yi Peng 3, NewNew Polar Bear had departed from a Russian port prior to the incident.<br><a href="https://gcaptain.com/details-of-baltic-sea-cable-incident-remain-murky-as-danish-coast-guard-shadows-chinese-vessel/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">gcaptain.com/details-of-baltic</span><span class="invisible">-sea-cable-incident-remain-murky-as-danish-coast-guard-shadows-chinese-vessel/</span></a></p>