Swedish police announced on Thursday that, at the invitation of Chinese authorities, they boarded the vessel Yi Peng 3, which is at the center of an investigation into the severing of cables in the Baltic Sea.
Swedish law enforcement has long sought to question the crew of the Chinese cargo ship in connection with the damage to two underwater fiber-optic cables in November. The ship has been anchored nearby for a month while diplomats in Stockholm and Beijing discuss the matter.
Investigators promptly focused on the vessel, which departed from the Russian port of Ust-Luga on November 15. MarineTraffic data analysis by Reuters indicated that the ship’s coordinates matched the time and location of the cable damage. Swedish police stated on Thursday that their role aboard Yi Peng 3 was limited to observation, with Chinese authorities conducting the investigation.
“A preliminary investigation into sabotage related to the two cable breaks in the Baltic Sea is ongoing,” the police said in a statement.
They clarified that the actions taken aboard the vessel on Thursday were not part of Sweden’s preliminary investigation. Danish authorities facilitated access to the cargo ship, which is anchored in the Kattegat Strait between Denmark and Sweden, according to the police.
The cables in the Baltic Sea—one connecting Finland and Germany, and the other connecting Sweden and Lithuania—were damaged on November 17–18. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius suggested the incidents were likely acts of sabotage.
