The Swedish government wants a Chinese bulker to return to its waters as part of a probe into damage to two fibre-optic subsea cables last week.
The 75,100-dwt Yi Peng 3 (built 2001) is suspected of being involved in two incidents on 17 and 18 November.
Reuters reported Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson as saying the vessel should return to aid the investigation.
AIS data showed the Yi Peng 3 at anchor in the Kattegat in Danish waters on Tuesday with Danish naval vessels remaining close by.
The damaged sections of the cables are in Sweden’s waters. One connects Finland and Germany, while the other links Sweden to Lithuania.
Kristersson told a press conference: “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.
“We’re not making any accusations but we seek clarity on what has happened.”
The bulker left the Russian port of Ust-Luga on 15 November and was in the areas where the cable damage occurred, according to tracking data. Other ships were also in the area.
China’s foreign ministry said it has maintained “smooth communication” with all parties involved.
German accusations
The Yi Peng 3, which is listed under the management of China’s Ningbo Yipeng, is carrying pig iron to Pakistan or India.
German defence minister Boris Pistorius suggested the damage was no accident.
“We have to conclude, without knowing exactly who did it, that it is a hybrid action and we also have to assume — without knowing it — that it is sabotage,” he said.
Two anonymous US officials cited by a CNN reporter said, however, that the disruption was not caused deliberately but “likely … by an anchor drag from a passing vessel”.
If correct, this would not be the first time a Chinese vessel has caused such an incident.
As TradeWinds reported, Chinese authorities admitted that the 1,638-teu NewNew Polar Bear (built 2005) damaged the Balticconnector subsea gas pipeline last year.
The Beijing investigation, which was sparked by a Finnish probe into the matter, attributed this to an accident caused by a strong storm, according to a report by the South China Morning Post.
Finnish police believed the damage was caused by the dragging of an anchor on the seabed. The country’s authorities said they had learned that the NewNew Polar Bear was missing one of its front anchors.
