Two Underwater drone operators found drag marks in Baltic seabed overlapping with path of Chinese vessel transitioning waterway as undersea cables were damaged. last month, as the Chinese cargo vessel Yi Peng 3 transited the Baltic Sea.
Underwater drone operators have reportedly found drag marks in the Baltic seabed that overlap with the path of a Chinese vessel that transited the waterway as two undersea telecommunications cables were damaged last month.
Blueye Robotics, which partnered with Denmark’s TV2 and Sweden’s TV4 news stations, sent underwater drones into the Kattegat Strait to search for signs of sabotage after cables connecting between Finland and Germany and between Sweden and Lithuania were damaged.
The search specifically focused on the path of the Yi Peng 3, a Chinese cargo vessel that had operated in the area when the cables were damaged.
In a Dec. 17 press statement, Blueye Robotics announced its search had uncovered “unusual seabed activity where the vessel Yi Peng 3 crossed key power and telecom cables in Kattegat.”
TV2 reported Danish defense official Jens Wenzel Kristoffersen identified the drag marks along the Chinese ship’s course as the potential imprint of an anchor.
Swedish and Danish coast guard and naval forces closed in on the Chinese vessel after underwater cables were damaged on Nov. 17 and Nov. 18. Both cables were damaged within Sweden’s exclusive economic zone.
Last month, the Chinese Foreign Ministry denied having knowledge of the Yi Peng 3’s operations and called for investigating authorities to respect the ship’s right to navigate through the waterway.
The ship has remained anchored in the waterway in the weeks since, as authorities from the surrounding countries have sought access to the ship as part of their investigations.
China permitted investigators from Germany, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark to board the Yi Peng 3 on Dec. 19.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said he helped facilitate the visit aboard the cargo ship in order to break the standoff that has halted the vessel’s transit.
The Chinese ship departed from the Russian Baltic Sea port in Ust-Luga on Nov. 15.
“It is our expectation that once the inspection has been completed by this group of people from the four countries, the ship will be able to sail towards its destination,” Lokke Rasmussen said.
By Ryan Morgan
