Authorities investigate Yi Peng 3’s possible link to undersea cable damage in Baltic Sea

Last spring marked a significant change in the operations of the Chinese vessel Yi Peng 3, which has been linked to cable damage incidents in the Baltic Sea. On March 16, 2023, the ship departed for Nakhodka, Russia, and has since made at least three trips to Murmansk and one to Ust-Luga, a port near St. Petersburg. Records indicate that Yi Peng 3 had not visited Russia at all since 2015 until the recent voyages. Notably, since March 2024, the ship has not returned to China.

For nearly five years before this shift, Yi Peng 3 primarily operated in the waters off the coast of China, routinely navigating between major ports in a country that boasts over 30 large ports and approximately 2,000 smaller ones, facilitating significant domestic maritime traffic. The owning company of Yi Peng 3 is registered in Ningbo, a city in Northeast China.

Authorities, particularly in Sweden, are keenly interested in the ship’s potential involvement in the damage to undersea cables, including one that connects Finland and Germany. The Danish Navy has been monitoring Yi Peng 3 closely. The vessel has been anchored in the Kattegat strait between Denmark and Sweden for several days, raising further investigation questions.

Recent findings indicate that Yi Peng 3 was in the vicinity of where the Finland-Germany cable was compromised, with reports suggesting that its anchor was damaged. However, there is no definitive evidence linking the vessel to the cable disruptions, and China has denied allegations of any wrongdoing.

Additionally, there are emerging inconsistencies in the ship’s data; its location information was lost for 7.5 hours while approaching the cable damage point, despite there being no expected signal interference in that area. The ship has also experienced multiple instances of being stationary or adrift, which could be attributed to weather conditions.

Two incidents of cable damage have been confirmed; one affecting the C-Lion 1 cable connecting Germany and Finland and another involving a cable between Sweden and Lithuania, prompting an investigation by the central criminal police.