Strongly suspected of having left its anchor dragging to tear out the Arelion and C-Lion1 submarine telecommunications cables, the Chinese cargo ship Yi Peng 3 remained immobilized for approximately a month in the Kattegat Strait, on the edge of Danish territorial waters. .
In doing so, and as he was not caught in the act, it was not possible for the countries bordering the Baltic Sea affected by the rupture of these two cables to board the Yi Peng 3. Unless they requested it authorization to its flag State. Hence negotiations with China.
These ultimately allowed Swedish investigators from the police and the Accident Investigation Authority to [SHK] to attend, as observers, an inspection of the cargo ship by “representatives of the Chinese authorities”. As for the prosecutor in charge of this case, Henrik Söderman, Beijing refused his presence on board.
“Our request to allow the Swedish prosecutor and the police […]to take measures as part of the preliminary investigation on board [du Yi Peng 3] remains unchanged,” argued Maria Malmer Stenergard, the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, via a message sent to AFP. “At the same time, I note that China has not responded [favorablement] at our request to authorize the prosecutor to conduct a preliminary investigation on board,” she continued.
Then, on December 21, while being watched by Danish and German ships, the Yi Peng 3 weighed anchor. It “ship started moving and announced that it was heading towards Port Said in Egypt,” a Swedish coast guard spokesperson said. “We are monitoring it and are in close contact with other relevant authorities,” he added.
This information was confirmed by the spokesperson for Chinese diplomacy on December 23. “The company owning the vessel, after a comprehensive assessment and consultations with relevant parties, has decided to resume operations,” she said. “China informed the countries concerned in advance,” she assured.
However, the Yi Peng 3 is not the first Chinese ship to have left its anchor dragging in the Baltic Sea. In October 2023, the Newnew Polar Bear container ship caused the rupture of the Balticconnector gas pipeline while en route to the port of Arkhangelsk [Russie]. Having promised to cooperate with the investigation opened by Finland, the Chinese authorities recently concluded that this ship had not acted intentionally… And to affirm that the damage inflicted on the pipe was due to “an accident caused by the wrong time “.
Regardless, for Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys, it is high time to take action. “Strengthening security starts with mitigating weaknesses. China's refusal to cooperate with investigations into submarine incidents in the Baltic Sea cannot set a precedent in Europe – or anywhere else. If the 'what's mine is mine' mentality becomes a new global norm, it will need to be countered with new rules for navigation in EU waters to address vulnerabilities,” he said in the pages of the Financial Times.
As the Yi Peng 3 headed towards Egypt, it headed towards the Strait of Pas-de-Calais, the narrowness of which means that France and the United Kingdom share its waters. Clearly, the Chinese cargo ship will have to navigate in French or British territorial waters. Which potentially puts him at the mercy of a boarding in the context of the Swedish investigation, provided he has a pretext for this. Indeed, according to French law, a ship's right of passage is considered “harmless” as long as it “does not harm the peace, good order or security of the State”. Afterwards, it will be too late given that the waters of the Strait of Gibraltar are international.
