The Chinese cargo ship suspected of being involved in the rupture of two cables in the Baltic Sea and which has been anchored off the coast of Denmark for a month should leave after the “inspection” underway on board on Thursday, Danish authorities announced.
Swedish police had previously announced that officers would board the Yi Peng 3 to attend as “observers” an inspection carried out by representatives of the Chinese authorities.
She made it clear that no investigation would be carried out on board and that these operations were not part of the Swedish judicial investigation.
Two telecommunications cables were cut on November 17 and 18 in Swedish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea.
According to ship tracking websites, the bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 was sailing above the cables at the time of the incident.
It has been anchored in the narrow Kattegat Strait, between Sweden and Denmark, since November 19.
“We expect that once the inspection is completed by this group of people from four countries, the ship will be able to sail to its destination,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters.
Representatives from China, Sweden, Germany and Finland are present on the boat, he added, specifying that Denmark had played a “facilitating role” between the countries concerned.
– Sabotage ? –
Sweden officially asked Beijing on November 28 to cooperate in clarifying the role of the Chinese-flagged cargo ship.
The Danish minister revealed that meetings between representatives of the four countries concerned took place earlier this week in Copenhagen.
Swedish police then announced that she had been invited on board the boat this Thursday as an observer.
“Representatives of the Chinese authorities are carrying out investigations on board the ship and have invited the Swedish authorities to participate as observers,” according to the Swedish police statement.
“No investigative measures will be taken by the Swedish police authorities on board the ship. The Danish authorities are facilitating the visit,” she said.
The Swedish Accident Investigation Authority (SHK), also present during this inspection, recalled that the Swedish authorities had no power to investigate the cargo ship anchored in international maritime waters.
“Some have claimed that the cable break was linked to the ship’s anchors. So it is interesting for us to hear what the crew has to say about this,” its president John Ahlberk told AFP.
He noted, however, that he was not sure if he would be able to speak to the crew or conduct his own investigations, since the investigation is being carried out by Chinese authorities on board a Chinese ship.
The Danish navy announced on November 20 that it was monitoring the Chinese bulk carrier, immobilized in international zones, and the Swedish coast guard was also present in the area for three weeks.
The Swedish police are leading the investigations, together with the Finnish and Lithuanian police, as part of an investigation led by the Swedish public prosecutor’s office.
The “Arelion” telecommunications cable, broken on November 17, connects the Swedish island of Gotland to Lithuania, and the second, broken on the 18th, the “C-Lion1”, extends between Finland and Germany.
Several European leaders had raised the hypothesis of sabotage linked to Russia shortly after the events.
The Kremlin considered this accusation “laughable” and “absurd”. China has promised to cooperate with the Swedish investigation.
Tensions have been increasing in the Baltic Sea since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In October 2023, an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was shut down after being damaged by the anchor of a Chinese cargo ship.
In September 2022, a series of underwater explosions ruptured the Nord Stream gas pipelines. Their cause is at this stage undetermined.
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