Sweden has sent a formal request to China to cooperate with an investigation into suspected sabotage over the sudden disruption of two submarine internet cables in the Baltic Sea earlier this month, after tracking data linked a Chinese ship to the incidents.
“Sweden has sent a formal request to China to cooperate with Swedish authorities in order to create clarity on what has happened,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters on Thursday.
Kristersson also said that Sweden has asked for the Chinese ship to return to Swedish waters in order to aid its investigation. The vessel is currently anchored in international waters in the Kattegat strait between Denmark and Sweden.
The two cables – one named Arelion, which links Finland and Germany, and the other named C-Lion 1 connecting Sweden to Lithuania – were severed within 24 hours of each other on November 17 and 18.
The incidents came just weeks after the United States warned that Moscow was likely to target critical undersea infrastructure. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said at the time that “no one believes that the cables were accidentally damaged.”
The Swedish Prosecution Authority said last Tuesday that the country’s National Unit against International and Organized Crime had opened a preliminary investigation into suspected sabotage over the cut cables. Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation also said it had launched an investigation.
Vessel tracking data from Kpler showed that a Chinese bulk carrier had crossed the two undersea communications cables around the time that each was reported cut.
The vessel, called Yi Pen 3, had been sailing out of the Baltic Sea after a stop in the port of Vistino, Russia. The tracking data showed that it also crossed other undersea infrastructure in the Baltic, including four gas and oil pipelines, a power line and another telecommunications cable under construction.
Asked about the ship during a press briefing on Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said he was “not aware of the situation” and that Chinese ships “abide by relevant laws and regulations.”