(Bloomberg) -- Swedish and Finnish authorities identified a Chinese ship anchored northeast of Denmark as potentially linked to incidents of damage to data cables in the Baltic Sea, saying it was “of interest” to their criminal probes.
The Chinese bulk carrier, Yi Peng 3, was in the vicinity of the two cables connecting the Nordic nations with Germany and Lithuania when they were damaged earlier this month, and has been anchored in the northern part of the Danish straits since Tuesday. The events are being probed by Swedish and Finnish police as deliberate acts.
Denmark’s military confirmed Wednesday it was monitoring the 225-meter (246 yards) vessel, while a Swedish coast guard ship and a German government patrol ship are now also present near it, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Sweden’s coast guard vessel is surveilling the area at sea around Yi Peng 3, collecting information for a criminal investigation into the cable damage, in which the Chinese ship is “of interest,” a spokesperson said.
“We are carrying out tasks on behalf of the prosecutor in Sweden and the Swedish police,” Mattias Lindholm of the Swedish coast guard said by phone. “We’re following what the ship is doing and where it might be going once it’s going somewhere.”
Finland’s border guard patrol vessel Turva is assisting police in investigating the scene of one the incidents, involving its high-speed link with Germany, alongside authorities of other countries. The Chinese vessel “is naturally of interest” to authorities, Detective Superintendent Risto Lohi of Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation said in a statement on Monday.
Denmark’s foreign ministry is “in ongoing dialog” with China and other involved countries about the ship, it said by email on Monday, declining to provide further information.
Drone images from Denmark’s national broadcaster DR last week showed that one of the anchors of the Yi Peng 3 was wrecked. Before anchoring, two Danish pilots had been on board the vessel, according to a Danpilot spokesperson.
The German government ship, Bad Duben, arrived at the site near the Chinese bulk carrier on Friday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The German defense ministry confirmed it was assisting Scandinavian partners but declined to give any further details on the mission.
The Swedish coast guard ship, called Poseidon, has been staying east of Yi Peng 3 since Saturday, keeping a larger distance to the Chinese vessel than its Danish and German counterparts.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius last week said the events have to be investigated as sabotage, while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said she wouldn’t be surprised if that turned out to have been the case. China has pushed back, saying it asks its vessels to “strictly abide by relevant laws and regulations.”
Finland’s criminal investigation into the damage to its cable is conducted under the premise of “aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with communications.”
Repair ship Cable Vigilance that Finland’s Cinia Oy commissioned to fix the 1,200-kilometer (750-mile) high-speed fiber optic Helsinki-Rostock link, has arrived on site, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
--With assistance from Tom Fevrier, Arne Delfs, Kati Pohjanpalo and Christopher Jungstedt.
(Adds comment from Danish foreign ministry in seventh paragraph)
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