Last week, two submarine fiber optic communications cables were cut in Europe. The first cut cable connects Finland to Europe, while the second connects the island of Gotland to Lithuania. These two cables were cut within a few hours of each other. It seemed very implausible that it was a series of accidents…
European authorities quickly opened an investigation to try to understand what really happened. After a few days of investigations, the Finnish and German authorities traced a ship of Chinese origin, le Yi Peng 3. 225 meters long, the ship, loaded with fertilizer from Russia, was surrounded by NATO warships in international waters as part of the investigation.
Also read: We boarded the ship that repairs underwater Internet cables
The trail of a Russian attack
As explained by Wall Street Journalthe investigation leads us to believe that the Yi Peng 3 has let drag its anchor at the bottom of the Baltic Sea for more than 160 km. It was this anchor which severed the two cables, on which Internet traffic relies.
According to satellite data consulted by investigators, the ship moved with abnormal slowness because of the anchor. It is very unlikely that the ship's captain was unaware of the problem. Additionally, authorities discovered that the boat's transponder was paused while the anchor was dragged along the seabed. This precaution was likely to avoid alerting other nearby boats during the maneuver. Furthermore, an examination of the anchor and hull showed damage consistent with the investigators' theory.
“It is extremely unlikely that the captain did not notice that his ship fell and dragged its anchor, losing speed for hours and cutting cables along the way”explains one of the investigators to the Wall Street Journal.
According to investigators, the captain of the Yi Peng 3 voluntarily dropped anchor before continuing his journey. In the opinion of investigators, the Chinese government is not involved in the operation at all. Investigators rather favor the trail of an attempt at destabilization led by Russia. The Russian intelligence services would have in fact convinced the captain in one way or another to carry out a sabotage operation.
The case comes weeks after the United States said it had detected increased Russian military activity around key submarine cables. Interviewed by CNN, two American officials said “concerned by the increase in Russian naval activity around the world”. According to them, Russia is increasingly likely to carry out sabotage operations against submarine cables. As CNN points out, this is a “essential backbone of Internet traffic and telecommunications worldwide”.
Russia denies
Moscow has firmly denied the accusations made by investigators, assuring that they are “baseless” et “absurd”. Note that the investigation is still ongoing. Swedish and German authorities are currently negotiating with the Chinese owner to gain access to the ship and its crew to conduct interrogations.
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Source :
WSJ
