Chinese bulker suspected of Baltic Sea cable sabotage sets sail for Egypt

Yi Peng 3, a 23-year-old panamax bulker owned by Ningbo Yipeng Shipping, is finally on the move after representatives from several European countries observed China’s investigation of the vessel.

The Yi Peng 3 is linked to the severing of two data cables in the Baltic Sea and was moored in the Kattegat Sea for a month. The vessel has been wanted for questioning by Sweden as the top suspect in the severing of the Swedish-Lithuanian and Finnish-German fibre-optic cables in November.

Swedish police boarded the vessel with representatives from Germany, Finland, and Denmark last Thursday after being invited by Chinese authorities to observe an investigation of the vessel. The Swedish police did not carry out its own investigation at the time and claimed that their probe into the suspicions of sabotage was still ongoing.

AIS data of the vessel now shows that has resumed its voyage towards Port Said which was its original destination. The ship started its journey from the Russian port of Ust-Luga. No details have been provided by the countries who had investigators onboard the vessel.

It was also revealed last week that Norway’s TV 2 and Sweden’s TV 4 had underwater footage which further reinforced suspicions of sabotage of the two subsea cables. Underwater drone operations conducted by the television stations and Blueye Robotics revealed a broad, dark drag mark on the seabed where the bulker passed over Danish data cables.