A Chinese vessel has been implicated in what has been described as the sabotage of undersea telecom cables in the Baltic Sea, a body of water dubbed the "NATO Lake" due to its location between alliance members.
International concern surrounds the cutting of the 730-mile C-Lion 1 cable connecting Finland and Germany and the 130-mile link between Sweden and Lithuania on Monday. A legal expert has told Newsweek that any investigation into the incidents "could span years" and could set precedents for future alleged incidents of underwater sabotage.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius described the incidents as "hybrid" actions, while his Swedish and Lithuanian counterparts said they were "deeply concerned."
None named any country, but the incidents come at a time of tension with Moscow, which has been accused of stoking tensions in the region with hybrid attacks, as the war it started in Ukraine continues to rage.
The U.K. newspaper Financial Times reported that investigators of the severed cables are looking into the movements of the Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3, which was en route to Egypt's Port Said from the Russian port of Ust-Luga. Social media reports said that the vessel had a Russian captain, although this has not been independently confirmed.
The Yi Peng 3 had passed close to both cables around the time each was cut on Sunday and Monday, according to maritime tracking group Marine Traffic. The vessel was then followed by the Danish Navy, according to open-source intelligence analysts.
"Ship suspected of damaging comms cables x 2 in Baltic Sea has been detained by Danish Navy," posted OSINT account auonsson on Blue Sky, which tracks vessels in the Baltic. The post said that it was "anchored just outside Danish territory with patrol/dive Y311 SØLØVEN vessel guarding her."
"Frigate HDMS HVIDBJØRNEN might be present too (no AIS but made speed toward situation.)" the post added. Newsweek has contacted the Danish Navy and the Chinese Foreign Ministry for comment.
Ben Knowles, a partner and global arbitration group chair at law firm Clyde & Co, told Newsweek that the incidents "raised significant legal implications."
"Like the Nord Stream incidents, there is likely to be a complex and lengthy investigation to determine the cause and identify those responsible," Knowles said, referring to the September 2022 gas pipelines between Russia and Germany destroyed by explosions whose cause has not yet been officially established.
"The investigation could span years, given all the technical, geopolitical, and jurisdictional factors involved," Knowles added. Once the cause and culpability are established, the focus will shift to allocating financial responsibility and addressing claims for damages.
"These could include insurance claims, compensation for service disruptions, and potential diplomatic or legal actions between nations," Knowles said. "The outcomes could set precedents for the handling of undersea infrastructure sabotage in an increasingly tense global environment," added the expert.
Finland and Sweden have opened investigations, but Helsinki has urged caution in not jumping to conclusions. The Finnish said China cooperated with a probe into an incident last year in which another Chinese damaged a Baltic gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia, with neither country yet claiming it was intentional.
Tensions around alleged Russian actions in the Baltic Sea is acute given Moscow's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the Kremlin's belligerent rhetoric toward NATO.
Media outlets in Norway have reported concerns at the presence of the Russian intelligence ship Yantar alongside its coast near critical seabed infrastructure such as oil and gas pipelines and cables for internet and telecommunications.
Nikolai Patrushev, a close aide to Vladimir Putin, this month blamed the U.S. and the U.K. for the Nord Stream explosions and were planning others. In reporting Patrushev's comments to Kommersant, Telegram channel Crimean Wind said "such statements often sound like a cover for their own intentions."
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