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The investigation was launched after two cables were severed in the Baltic Sea last week
Swedish Prime Minster Ulf Kristersson has requested that a Chinese ship return to Swedish waters as part of an ongoing investigation into the damage of two subsea cable systems in the Baltic Sea last week.
Last Sunday, the 218km BCS East-West Interlink cable, which connects Gotland, Sweden, and Lithuania, was damaged and taken offline. The next day, the C-lion-1 cable between Helsinki, Finland, and Rostock, Germany, was also severed. This cable is the only direct link between Finland and mainland Europe.
European governments said at the time that they feared the damage was an intentional act of sabotage on behalf of malicious state actors and started an immediate investigation. As the damage to both affected cables occurred in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone (the area of the sea to which a country has exclusive rights), this investigation is being led by a team of Swedish prosecutors.
Following the initial phases of investigation, it was quickly discovered that the Chinese bulk carrier ship Yi Peng 3 was in the area at the time the cable damage occurred. As such, Swedish authorities are now requesting that Yi Peng 3 returns to Swedish waters to cooperate with investigators.
The Chinese ship is currently anchored in international waters within Denmark’s exclusive economic zone.
“From the Swedish side we have had contact with the ship and contact with China and said that we want the ship to move towards Swedish waters,” PM Kristersson told a press conference this week.
The PM was keen to stress that, at this stage, there is no accusation of malice, but that “this is the second time in a relatively short period of time that there have been serious physical cable breaches.”
This is in reference to an incident in October last year, when a gas pipeline and submarine telecoms cable connecting Finland and Estonia were both severely damaged. Swedish officials described the damage as “purposeful”, and investigations are ongoing.
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