Nov 28, 2024 12:05:00

Investigators suspect the Chinese vessel Yipeng-3 deliberately dragged its anchor over 100 miles in the Baltic Sea in an attempt to cut undersea cables, possibly on Russian orders.

Investigators suspect that the Chinese cargo ship Yipeng-3, which was seized by the Danish Navy on suspicion of cutting an undersea cable in the Baltic Sea, deliberately sailed 100 miles (about 160 km) at anchor, according to reports.

Exclusive | Chinese Ship's Crew Suspected of Deliberately Dragging Anchor for 100 Miles to Cut Baltic Cables - WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/chinese-ship-suspected-of-deliberately-dragging-anchor-for-100-miles-to-cut-baltic-cables-395f65d1

Investigators say a Chinese ship's crew deliberately dragged its anchor to cut undersea data cables
https://www.engadget.com/transportation/investigators-say-a-chinese-ships-crew-deliberately-dragged-its-anchor-to-cut-undersea-data-cables-195052047.html

A Chinese ship is suspected of sabotaging undersea cables - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/27/24307498/chinese-ship-undersea-cables-severed-russia-baltic-seabed

Investigators suspect that the Ipoh-3, a 225-metre long, 32-metre wide cargo ship loaded with Russian fertiliser, deliberately cut two undersea cables by sailing 100 miles at anchor in the Baltic Sea.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the investigation is focusing on whether the captain of the Yipeng-3, which left the port of Ust-Luga on Russia's Battle Sea coast on November 15, 2024, was instigated by Russian intelligence to carry out the sabotage of the undersea cables.

If this was Russian-led sabotage, it would be the latest in a series of attacks on European critical infrastructure that law enforcement and intelligence officials say were orchestrated by Russia.

'It is hard to imagine that the captain would let the ship drag its anchor and sail at slow speed for hours without realising the undersea cable had been cut,' said a senior investigator working on the cable-cutting case, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Yipeng-3's owner, Ningbo Yipeng Shipping, is cooperating with the investigation and has allowed the vessel to stay in international waters, according to people familiar with the investigation. The company did not respond to The Wall Street Journal's request for comment.

The severed undersea cable is 'C-Lion 1', which connects Sweden and Lithuania and is laid in Swedish territorial waters. In the diagram below, (1) the blue line is 'the route that Iho-3 took dragging its anchor', (2) the orange line is the location of the severed 'C-Lion 1', and (3) is 'the location where Iho-3 was seized by NATO vessels'.

It was also revealed that when the first undersea cable was cut, the Automatic Identification System

transponder on board the Iho 3, which records the movements of ships, had stopped working, putting the vessel into a state known in maritime traffic jargon as a 'dark incident.' Investigators are using satellite data and other sources to verify the state of the Iho 3 at the time of the dark incident, and although its speed had been significantly reduced because it had dropped anchor, the vessel continues to sail.

The Iho 3 then cut the undersea cable connecting Germany and Finland at around 3:00 a.m. local time on November 18, 2024. The Iho 3 then continued to navigate in a zigzag pattern. According to investigators, an examination of the Iho 3's hull and anchor revealed traces of the anchor dragging on the seabed and damage indicating that the undersea cable had been cut.

'Given the calm weather conditions and controllable wave heights, the possibility of the anchor becoming dragged accidentally appears highly unlikely,' Kpler, an analytics firm that provides real-time data on international shipping, told The Wall Street Journal.

According to investigators, the Chinese and Russian crew members, including the captain, had not been questioned by investigators at the time of writing, but it appears that a crew member from a Danish pilot boat briefly boarded the Ipeng 3 before it docked in the Kattegat.

Officials from law enforcement and intelligence agencies do not appear to believe that the Chinese government is involved in this incident. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning also stated, 'We would like to reiterate that China consistently supports cooperation with all countries in abiding by international law and maintaining the security of international undersea cables and other infrastructure,' and vowed to cooperate with the investigation.

Law enforcement and intelligence officials have suspected that Russian intelligence services were behind the sabotage, but a Kremlin spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that 'the allegations are absurd and unfounded' and denied any involvement in the incident.

Under international maritime law, NATO ships cannot force the Yipeng-3 into their ports, so Swedish and German authorities are reportedly negotiating with the ship's owner, Ningbo Yipeng Shipping, to question the crew. German police have sent patrol boats and are investigating the accident site using underwater drones, and Swedish and Danish ships are also investigating the site on the seabed. Politicians say the EU has pledged to abide by international maritime law, so it is being forced to tread carefully.

According to Benjamin L. Schmidt, a senior fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, the Yipeng-3 operated exclusively in Chinese waters from December 2019 to early March 2024, but then suddenly changed its activity pattern and began carrying Russian coal and other cargoes in Europe. Besides Europe, it has also called at ports such as Nakhodka on the Sea of Japan and made several voyages to the port of Murmansk on the Barents Sea.

'While this alone is not enough evidence of Russian involvement, the fundamental change in the Yipeng-3's navigation area from long-standing operations solely in Chinese waters to Russian ports should be an important element of European authorities' investigations,' Schmidt said.