Danish navy monitors Chinese cargo ship Yi Peng 3 near Zealand

The Danish navy has been closely monitoring the movements of the Chinese cargo ship Yi Peng 3 in recent days. Currently, the vessel is anchored near Zealand, Denmark’s largest island, alongside a naval ship from the Danish fleet. The Chinese vessel was spotted in the vicinity where undersea cables between Finland and Germany were damaged, with similar issues reported in the cable connecting Sweden and Lithuania.

Yi Peng 3 is owned by Ningbo Yipeng Shipping Co. Ltd., a company registered in Ningbo, a major city near China’s Shanghai metropolitan area. According to Chinese business records, the company is owned by two Chinese men, who have not responded to inquiries via email or phone. A representative of the owning company spoke to Financial Times, revealing that Chinese authorities have requested assistance in investigating the incident, but did not provide further comments.

At this point, there is no conclusive evidence linking the Chinese vessel to the cable damage incidents. However, Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported that authorities are particularly interested in this ship given its operations around the time the cables were compromised.

The Yi Peng 3, built in South Korea in 2001 and acquired by its current owners in 2016 when it was still named Avra, is among three cargo ships owned by this duo. Information about the owners is sparse, but their company has faced a civil dispute over wage claims from a crew member, leading to a court ruling in favor of the employee.

In a recent incident, the C-Lion 1 data cable connecting Germany and Finland ceased operations on Monday morning, suggesting it has been severed. A similar problem was reported on a cable between Sweden and Lithuania the day before. Both countries plan to form a joint investigative team to explore the causes behind the cable damages.

The Danish navy has had at least four ships monitoring the area near Yi Peng 3 recently, indicating a coordinated interest in the ship’s activities. The vessel had previously entered Ust-Luga, Russia, on November 10, arriving from Port Said, Egypt.