STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – A Chinese bulk carrier that is under investigation following a breach of two fibre-optic cables in the Baltic Sea is again moving after sitting still for more than a month in a nearby Danish shipping lane, The Swedish Coastguard said on Saturday.
China had on Thursday allowed representatives from Germany, Sweden, Finland and Denmark to board the Yi Peng 3 along with Chinese investigators, breaking a month-long diplomatic standoff.
“It has started moving and has said it is going to Port Said in Egypt,” a Swedish Coastguard spokesperson told Reuters. “We are tracking the ship and are in close contact with other concerned authorities,” the spokesperson added.
No further details were given and the spokesperson did not say whether any evidence had been found regarding the cable breaches. Jonas Backstrand, chair of Sweden’s accident investigation authority, said on Friday: “We are content with the visit onboard, which was relatively open and transparent and we had the possibility to see what we wanted to see and to talk to the crew members that we wanted to talk with.”
The Baltic Sea cables, one linking Finland and Germany and the other connecting Sweden to Lithuania, were damaged on Nov. 17 and 18, prompting German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius to say he assumed this was caused by sabotage.
Investigators quickly zeroed in on the Chinese ship, which left the Russian port of Ust-Luga on Nov. 15. A Reuters analysis of MarineTraffic data showed the vessel’s coordinates corresponded to the time and place of the breaches.
Vessels in international waters benefit from the “freedom of navigation” principle, meaning a state cannot interfere with ships sailing under the flag of another state.
Denmark, which helped broker a compromise allowing the European nations to send representatives on board, on Thursday said the Yi Peng 3 would be able to resume its journey following the inspection.
Sweden’s accident investigation authority said it had inspected the vessel alongside a similar Chinese agency, while police officers from Finland, Germany, Sweden and Denmark were present as observers.
(Reporting by Johan Ahlander, Louise Rasmussen and Terje Solsvik; Editing by David Holmes)
