Estonia: Chinese cargo ship suspect in gas pipeline, data cable damage

Finnish authorities announced that the prime suspect in the damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia is the Chinese cargo ship, NewNew Polar Bear, YLE reports. The damage to the gas pipeline and Finnish and Swedish telecommunications companies Elisa’s and Arelion’s data cables coincided with the ship’s journey, Reuters reported. The Finnish Navy has lifted a severed anchor from near the site of the damage to the pipeline. Track lines on the seabed suggest that the Chinese ship may have dragged its anchor from the location of the Swedish-Estonian data cable to the Gulf of Finland. Finnish police is now trying to establish whether the damage to the gas pipeline was intentional or accidental. The ship’s captain refused the Finnish Border Guard’s request to be interviewed. NewNew Polar Bear is registered in Hong Kong, and the ship’s owner is the Chinese shipping company, NewNew Shipping.