Ulf Kristersson, the prime minister of Sweden, has requested that the Chinese bulk carrier implicated in the suspected sabotage of two fiber-optic data cables connecting Nordic countries to mainland Europe return to Swedish waters to help with the ongoing investigation.
He stressed that “we’re not making any accusations,” and are simply after “clarity on what has happened.” But new reports have drawn attention to the fact the ship’s anchor appears to be damaged, which could point to its involvement in severing the cables. Analysis had previously shown that the ship’s coordinates correspond to the time and place of the breaches.
The Yi Peng 3 vessel is currently anchored inside Denmark’s exclusive economic zone, under the watch of Danish military vessels. Sea captain Lars Bo Nielsen, who has seen the carrier, told the Danish Broadcasting Corporation that the blades on one of its anchors “are twisted in different directions, which could well indicate that one side of the anchor has caught something stuck on the bottom or some stones.”
And it takes something to bend such an anchor. So it looks weird. I have never seen such a bent anchor before.
Defence analyst Jens Wenzel Kristoffersen added that “it is natural, when this kind of break occurs, that you look at the cause to see whether the ship may have damaged the cables down there with the help of its anchor.”
Some European officials hold Russia as “the prime suspect” in the alleged sabotage, although figures in U.S. naval intelligence say they believe both incidents were an accident. Both acknowledge that an official investigation could take years to reach any proper conclusion.
Responding to Sweden’s request, China said it would “support working with all countries to maintain the security of international submarine cables and other infrastructure in accordance with international law.”
