"Mystery Deepens: Chinese Ship Linked to Baltic Cable Sabotage Sets Sail"

Copenhagen (MilkyStory): A Chinese vessel allegedly linked to the severing of two undersea cables in the Baltic Sea has departed its anchorage off Denmark's coast, Sweden’s Coast Guard confirmed on Saturday.

The vessel, identified as the Yi Peng 3, had remained anchored in international waters of the Kattegat Strait between Sweden and Denmark since November 19, shortly after sections of two telecom cables were cut on November 17 and 18 in Swedish territorial waters.

Ship tracking data from Vesselfinder showed the Yi Peng 3 sailing north out of the strait on Saturday. Hanna Buhler, a duty officer with the Swedish Coast Guard, confirmed the ship had lifted anchor and reported it was heading to Egypt’s Port Said. "We will continue to monitor the vessel," Buhler added.

The Yi Peng 3 came under scrutiny as tracking sites indicated it had passed over the damaged cables around the time of the incidents. Swedish authorities had previously requested China’s cooperation in the investigation, though Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson emphasized that no formal accusations had been made.

On Thursday, investigators from Sweden, Germany, and Finland were invited aboard the ship by Chinese authorities to participate in an inspection. A Danish representative joined the delegation, as Denmark had facilitated earlier meetings among the involved nations.

“Chinese authorities are conducting their own investigation on the vessel and have invited Swedish officials to observe,” Swedish police stated.

European officials suspect sabotage as a possible cause of the cable damage, linking the incidents to heightened tensions in the Baltic region following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin dismissed these suspicions as “absurd” and “laughable.”

The severed cables included the Arelion cable, connecting the Swedish island of Gotland to Lithuania, damaged on November 17. The following day, the C-Lion 1 submarine cable, linking Helsinki to Germany’s Rostock port, was severed south of Sweden’s Oland island, about 700 kilometers (435 miles) from Helsinki.

The Baltic Sea has become a focal point of geopolitical tensions since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022, further complicating the investigation into the damaged cables.