Damaged cable is repaired with a special ship

Is China behind the damage?

Special ship begins repair of Baltic Sea cable

Two communication cables in the Baltic Sea were damaged within a very short period of time. Can this be a coincidence? The investigation continues to revolve around a Chinese freighter.

Repairs to a damaged telecommunications cable between Helsinki and Rostock have begun in the Baltic Sea. The special ship “Cable Vigilance” arrived at the site of the cable break early in the morning from Calais, France, and began repair work, according to information from cable operator Cinia. The C-Lion1 undersea cable is scheduled to be restored by the end of November.

Cinia discovered a defect in C-Lion1 a week ago southeast of the Swedish island of Öland. Since then, communication links over the cable have been interrupted. Shortly afterwards it became known that less than 24 hours earlier, damage had occurred to another communication cable in the Baltic Sea between the Swedish island of Gotland and Lithuania. The cause in both cases has not yet been clarified. The Swedish police have started an investigation into possible sabotage, and authorities in other countries are also investigating whether the cables were intentionally damaged.

A Chinese ship called the “Yi Peng 3” has become the focus of investigators. According to tracking services, ships from authorities from various NATO states – including two from Germany – are close to the freighter, which has been anchored for days in the Kattegat between Denmark and Sweden, south of the small island of Anholt. Whether the “Yi Peng 3” has been arrested has still not been officially confirmed.

The Chinese Foreign Office said it was in contact with the parties involved in this case through diplomatic channels. No further information could be provided about the exact circumstances of the Chinese ship, said spokeswoman Mao Ning in Beijing.

The C-Lion1 fiber optic cable runs 1,173 kilometers between Helsinki and Rostock and connects Central European telecommunications networks with Finland and other countries in Northern Europe. The cable break is said to have not caused any major disruption to users’ Internet connections or data traffic, as operators can switch to other connections.