Chinese ship linked to cable sabotage urged to move into Swedish waters

Stay informed with free updates

Simply sign up to the Geopolitics myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.

Sweden’s prime minister has urged a Chinese ship linked to the cutting of two cables to move into Swedish waters, as the country steps up its investigation of the potential incident of sabotage in the Baltic Sea.

Yi Peng 3, a Chinese bulk carrier, is being investigated by Swedish authorities after it passed close to both the Swedish-Lithuanian and Finnish-German cables around the time they were cut more than a week ago.

The ship is now voluntarily moored in international waters between Denmark and Sweden with naval vessels from both countries as well as Germany and occasionally Russia monitoring the area.

“From the Swedish side we have had contact with the ship and contact with China and said that we want the ship to move towards Swedish waters,” said Ulf Kristersson, Sweden’s prime minister, on Tuesday.

Europe is on heightened alert for potential sabotage of crucial infrastructure after a series of events including damaged gas pipelines, data cables and fires across the continent.

Intelligence officials have focused their suspicion on Russia for many of the incidents. But for the second time in just over a year, a Chinese vessel is suspected of damaging infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, sparking intense diplomatic efforts with Beijing.

Authorities from Sweden, Denmark and Finland have been putting pressure on China to let Nordic investigators on board the Yi Peng 3, which has not been formally accused of any wrongdoing.

Nordic officials report a co-operative tone from Chinese officials, but say that any negotiations will take time.

Kristersson insisted that he did not want to accuse Yi Peng 3 of any wrongdoing, but said its passage to Swedish waters would enable “easier co-operation”.

“This is not the first time we have suffered a severed cable due to a somewhat unclear reason,” the prime minister added.

Newnew Polar Bear, a Chinese container ship, damaged a gas pipeline and several data cables in October 2023 by dragging its anchor along the bottom of the Baltic Sea for a significant distance during a storm.

Nordic authorities only concentrated their inquiries on the ship after it had left the region, and Finland’s defence minister said this month the country would move faster to try to stop vessels after reports of suspicious activity.

Pictures from DR, Denmark’s public broadcaster, last week showed that one of Yi Peng 3’s anchors had been damaged.

Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius said shortly after the incident was reported that “no one believes that these cables were cut accidentally.

“Therefore, we have to state, without knowing specifically who it came from, that it is a ‘hybrid’ action. And we also have to assume, without knowing it yet, that it is sabotage.”

Yi Peng 3 is owned by Ningbo Yipeng Shipping, a company that owns only one other vessel and is based near the eastern Chinese port city of Ningbo. A representative of Ningbo Yipeng told the Financial Times last week that “the government has asked the company to co-operate with the investigation”, but did not answer further questions.