A Chinese cargo ship severed underwater telecom cables in the Baltic Sea

10 hours ago 3

A Chinese cargo ship has been stopped off the coast of Denmark. Officials are investigating it for severing underwater telecommunications cables connecting a handful of northern European countries.

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

The Danish navy has stopped a Chinese cargo ship off the coast of Denmark. Officials are investigating the vessel for severing underwater telecommunications cables connecting a handful of northern European countries. NPR's central Europe correspondent Rob Schmitz joins us now with the latest. Hi there.

ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE: Hey, Juana.

SUMMERS: So Rob, we know a few things so far. This is a ship that was sailing from a Russian port on the Baltic Sea until it was stopped in the straits between Denmark and Sweden. What else do we know?

SCHMITZ: Well, we know that this is a Chinese cargo vessel named the Yi Peng 3. And after departing Russia, ship tracking data shows that on Sunday morning local time, this ship passed over a telecommunications cable that connects Sweden and Lithuania. And soon after crossing that point, that cable stopped working and was later found to be severed.

Several hours later on early Monday morning, the same ship passed over an undersea communications cable connecting Finland and Germany, and 2 minutes later, that cable stopped working, and its operator noticed that the cable had also been severed.

SUMMERS: It sounds a little suspicious.

SCHMITZ: Yeah, it does. And what's even more suspicious here is that ship tracking data shows the Yi Peng 3 had slowed down to a stop drifting in the general area over both undersea cables, in one case for more than an hour, and that's what attracted the attention of officials monitoring ship traffic in these waters.

This was unusual activity at a time when two major undersea telecommunications cables had been reported severed. And at least for German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, it was clear what happened to these cables. Here he is at a press conference.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BORIS PISTORIUS: (Speaking German).

SCHMITZ: And Juana, he's saying here, "nobody believes these cables were accidentally cut. We have to assume without knowing for sure yet that this was an act of sabotage."

SUMMERS: Interesting. OK, what does China have to say about all of this?

SCHMITZ: Well, as is typical for China in situations like this, not very much. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said China's government requires Chinese ships to adhere to relevant laws.

SUMMERS: But Rob, if I remember correctly, China did admit to destroying infrastructure underneath the Baltic Sea last year, right?

SCHMITZ: They did. In October of 2023, a Chinese ship called the NewNew Polar Bear dragged its anchor several hundred nautical miles, scraping the bottom of the Baltic Sea, destroying undersea cables and an undersea gas line connecting Finland and Estonia. And at that time, this ship was able to get away, but an investigation by the Finns found that the vessel was responsible for that damage. China later admitted that the vessel had damaged all that infrastructure but claimed it was all an accident.

SUMMERS: So what's next for the Chinese ship currently under investigation?

SCHMITZ: So the Danish navy says it stopped the Yi Peng 3 cargo ship, and from the latest I'm seeing this evening local time on a Marine traffic map, the vessel's currently floating at a stop in the narrow straits between Denmark and Sweden. And the Danish navy vessel's alongside it, waiting for officials from Sweden, Finland and Germany to arrive to question the crew.

SUMMERS: And we should just remind folks that all of this is happening against a backdrop of more Western weapons heading to Ukraine. It really does sound like tensions in Europe are quite high.

SCHMITZ: Yeah, you know, U.S. officials evacuated the American embassy in Kyiv today, bracing for a Russian strike. And today, we're also monitoring reports of Ukraine firing British-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia. All of this also comes after President Biden gave Ukraine permission earlier this week to fire American-made long-range missiles into Russia. So I think it's fair to say from all this news that tensions here in Europe are running very high.

SUMMERS: That's NPR central Europe correspondent Rob Schmitz. Thank you.

SCHMITZ: Thank you.

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