Danish Military Observers Chinese Ship Following Baltic Sea Data Cable Attacks

Following recent cutting of two fiber-optic data cables in the Baltic Sea, the Danish military is closely observing the Chinese bulk ship Yi Peng 3, which has been anchored in Danish waters. Now stranded in the Kattegat Strait between Denmark and Sweden, the ship left Russia's Ust-Luga port on November 15. Although a Danish naval patrol ship has been parked close by, the military has not acknowledged whether the location of the ship relates to the cable damage. The Danish Defense Ministry refrained to speak further on the matter.

One cable between Sweden and Lithuania and another between Finland and Germany broke in unison on November 17 and 18, one day apart. The damage has generated questions about possible sabotage, which prompted Swedish authorities to start a preliminary inquiry. Ship movements identified by Swedish military matched the chronology of the cable outages, according to Swedish Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin.

Russia has denied any role in the cable destruction, while China's government claims that its vessels follow international regulations and help to maintain underwater infrastructure. Though no concrete proof has connected Russia to the intrusions, European officials have speculated that these events could be part of more general hybrid strikes aiming at Ukraine's Western partners.