After the rupture of two telecommunications cables at the start of the week, the bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 is immobilized in international waters near the Danish coast.
Denmark has established diplomatic contacts regarding the situation of the Chinese boat, the Yi Peng 3immobilized and under surveillance near the Danish coast after the rupture of two telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea, Danish diplomacy said on Thursday. The bulk carrier, built in 2001, was in the area of the two cables at the time of their damage which occurred on Sunday and Monday, according to maritime traffic monitoring sites. Danish Defense announced on Wednesday that it was monitoring the Chinese boat, which has been stationary since Tuesday evening in Kattegat, between Denmark and the west coast of Sweden.
“Denmark does not own the damaged cables and the ship is currently in international waters”the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs told AFP. This situation in international waters limits the possibilities for intervention by the Danish authorities. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has had a number of diplomatic contacts, but cannot go further in the specific process”he added, without wanting to specify which countries are concerned.
China denies any involvement
Chinese diplomacy on Monday rejected any responsibility of a Chinese boat in this affair. A telecoms cable, the “C-Lion1” linking Finland to Germany was damaged early Monday south of the island of Öland in Swedish waters. Sunday morning, another telecommunications cable, the«Arelion»connecting the Swedish island of Gotland to Lithuania, was damaged.
Swedish police, who have been investigating suspicions of sabotage since Tuesday, confirmed that they were interested in the movements of a boat, without specifying which one. Finland has also opened an investigation, on the cable alone “C-Lion1”. Due to tensions around the Baltic Sea since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, several leaders of the countries concerned have raised the possibility of a “hybrid attack”in reference to the actions carried out by Russia to harm them. The Kremlin ruled “laughable” et “absurd” to accuse Russia of being at the origin of the rupture of the two cables.
