China admitted that the Newnew Polar Bear ship damaged the Balticconnector gas pipeline, which connects Estonia and Finland.
The explosion on the Balticconnector gas pipeline in October 2023 was caused by a Chinese ship, according to a report from China sent to law enforcement agencies in Finland and Estonia, the South China Morning Post reports, citing this document.
Beijing said the accident was caused by a violent storm in which the Hong Kong-flagged container ship Newnew Polar Bear damaged the gas pipeline with its anchor. Chinese authorities believe the incident was an accident.
Not just a gas pipeline. The anchor damaged submarine cables
Meanwhile, the document, written in Chinese and in accordance with the rules of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), says nothing about two data cables that were also damaged by the anchor. One of them provided communication between Estonia and Sweden, the other belonged to Russia.
At the same time, a gas pipeline in Finnish waters was damaged and one of the cables in Estonian waters was damaged. The accidents occurred approximately two hours apart during a strong storm in the Baltic Sea.
In late October last year, an anchor was recovered from the bottom of the Baltic Sea that, according to Finnish police, belonged to the Chinese ship Newnew Polar Bear and damaged the gas pipeline and cables. The ship itself was in the Gulf of Finland at the time of the gas pipeline explosion and then sailed to St. Petersburg.
Impact and explosion in the Balticconnector
The Balticconnector gas pipeline is a major source of gas for Finland. Last November, Finnish authorities said Beijing had promised to cooperate with the investigation, and in January, current Finnish President Sauli Niinistö held what he called “constructive” talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping over the damaged pipeline.
The immobilisation of the Balticconnector by a Chinese vessel has raised concerns in the EU about the safety of subsea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. The explosion of the Estonian-Finnish gas pipeline came after the blowing up in September 2022 of three of the four lines of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, which connect Russia and Germany.
After the Balticconnector is built, blue fuel from Finland will be able to flow through the Baltic countries and Poland, bypassing Russia. The length of the gas pipeline is 150 km, of which 77 km will run along the seabed.
Source: Do Rzeczy
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
