(AFP) – A Chinese ship involved in two recent undersea cable cutting incidents and anchored off the coast of Denmark since November 19 set sail on Saturday, the Swedish coast guard said.
On November 17th and 18th, parts of two communication cables were cut in Swedish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea.
Suspicion has been directed at the Chinese ship Yi Peng 3, which was sailing over the cable around the time it was severed, according to ship-tracking sites.
The Yipeng 3 was anchored in international waters in the Kattegat Strait between Sweden and Denmark.
Vesselfinder, a ship-tracking site, showed the Ipen 3 heading north out of the Channel on Saturday, and the Swedish coast guard confirmed that the vessel had raised anchor.
“We have reports that it is heading towards Egypt and Port Said,” Swedish Coast Guard officer on duty Hanna Buehler told AFP, adding that they would continue to monitor the vessel.
On Thursday, authorities from Sweden, Germany and Finland were invited aboard the ship for a Chinese-led investigation.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lökke Rasmussen said Denmark had played a “facilitating role” by hosting a meeting between the two countries at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier this week, and a Danish representative was also on hand.
“We hope that once the inspection by this group of four countries is completed, the ship will be able to sail to its destination,” Rasmussen said.
Swedish police confirmed on Thursday that they were on board the ship as lookouts.
“Representatives of the Chinese authorities are conducting an investigation on board the ship and have requested the participation of the Swedish authorities as observers,” police said, adding that they did not intend to take any “investigative measures”.
The Swedish Accident Investigation Authority (SHK) also participated in the visit, but noted that the ship was “anchored in international waters” and that “Swedish authorities cannot exercise jurisdiction over foreign vessels.”
SHK director John Ahlberg told AFP on Thursday that he wanted to gather “as much information as possible”.
“There are claims that the cable breakage is related to the ship's anchor, so it will be interesting for us to hear what the crew has to say about it,” he said.
Ahlberg noted that because the investigation was led by Chinese authorities on board a Chinese ship, it was unclear how much they would be able to discuss with the crew or conduct their own investigation.
European officials said they suspected sabotage related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Kremlin rejected the comments as “ridiculous” and “laughable.”
Sweden requested China's cooperation in the investigation in late November, but Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson insisted there had been no “accusations” made.
Early on the morning of November 17, the Alerion cable, which runs from the Swedish island of Gotland to Lithuania, was damaged.
The next day, the C-Lion 1 submarine cable connecting Helsinki to the German port of Rostock was severed south of the Swedish island of Oland, about 700 kilometers (435 miles) from Helsinki.
Tensions around the Baltic Sea have been increasing since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In September 2022, a series of underwater explosions ruptured the Nord Stream pipeline carrying Russian gas to Europe, the cause of which has not yet been determined.
In October 2023, an undersea gas pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia was damaged by the anchor of a Chinese cargo ship and shut down.
