The Chinese vessel Yi Peng 3 is located in the Kattegat on Wednesday, according to the search engine Vesselfinder. Right next to it, a vessel from the Danish Navy can be seen, which has been following Yi Peng 3 since Tuesday.
"The Defense can confirm that we are on site in the area around the Chinese vessel Yi Peng 3", writes the Danish Defense on X.
The Chinese vessel has been followed by the Navy on its way out from the Baltic Sea.
If I'm going to guess, it's the vessel that's suspected of having damaged the cables in the Baltic Sea, says Iben Bjørnsson, adjunct at the Defense Academy and expert in Danish and Nordic security policy.
From Russian harbor
Over the weekend, two important data cables between Finland and Germany and between Lithuania and Sweden were damaged. Authorities in Sweden and several other countries suspect sabotage and have launched investigations.
Five days ago, Yi Peng 3 left the harbor in the Russian city of Ust-Luga near Estonia and has since moved on its way out of the Baltic Sea. The route has gone near the cables that have since been found damaged.
Despite the vessel being Chinese, it is Russia that is primarily being mentioned in speculations about who wanted to damage the cables.
As far as I understand, the vessel has been in a Russian harbor, and it's part of a pattern when we've seen Russian interest in critical infrastructure on the seabed. You can say it fits a Russian pattern rather than a Chinese one, says Iben Bjørnsson.
"More practical way"
This pattern, together with the fact that the vessel came from a Russian harbor, leads to suspicions of Russian involvement.
This is not something we know, this is what we believe. In principle, it could have acted on its own, or it could have been an accident. It's guesses that it's Russia, but they're not guesses that come from nowhere.
She says she was surprised that suspicions seem to be directed at a Chinese vessel, since China has so far stayed out of the conflict between Russia and the West.
If it's this Chinese ship, then it's a Chinese involvement in a more practical way than we've seen before.
