Sweden’s authorities have requested that the Chinese vessel linked to broken data cables in the Baltic Sea move closer to Sweden’s waters, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said.
The bulk carrier, Yi Peng 3, is currently anchored just outside of Denmark’s territorial waters, with vessels from Sweden, Denmark and Germany monitoring it.
“We have been in contact with the ship and with China, and have stated that we want the ship to move toward Swedish waters,” Kristersson said at a news conference in Stockholm on November 25, adding that’s he wishes to enable better cooperation and implies no accusation nor criminal investigation.
Swedish authorities have “not yet received an answer,” he said.
A high-speed fiber optic cable connecting Finland and Germany was cut on November 17, by what was likely an external impact. A nearby link between Lithuania and Sweden was also damaged the following day. The Chinese ship was in the vicinity of the two cables when the incidents happened.
“It’s not the first time we’ve suffered a cable break with a slightly unclear basis,” Kristersson said. It was the second such incident in the Baltic Sea in just over a year.
