Finland suggests anchor from Hong Kong-flagged vessel may have damaged gas pipeline
Hong Kong Free Press
Helsinki, Finland
Finnish police said Tuesday that they had recovered an anchor, likely from a Chinese ship, that appears to have been the cause of the damage to a subsea gas pipeline in October.
After a leak led to the shutdown of the pipeline between Finland and Estonia on October 8, Finnish authorities have been investigating the damage they said was caused by “external” activity, raising speculation of potential sabotage.
On Tuesday, police released photographs of underwater tracks, believed to have been produced by a six-tonne anchor being dragged across the seabed and then hitting the Balticconnector pipeline, leading to the damage and the anchor breaking off.
“It was recovered by the navy early this morning,” Detective Superintendent Risto Loh told a press conference.
Authorities also confirmed earlier findings pointing to the Chinese Newnew Polar Bear cargo ship, believed to be linked to the damage.
“The Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship appears to be very firmly on the scene, based on time frames,” Lohi said.
The police made efforts to reach out to the ship’s captain but did not get a response.
They were also unable to inspect the vessel as it was not within Finnish territorial waters, but had received reports of observations indicating that “the vessel’s left bow anchor appears to be missing”.
Currently the vessel is in Russia’s northern territorial waters, Lohi said, declining to speculate if the damage had been inflicted intentionally.
Sweden’s government announced last week that it had received information that a telecommunications cable linking it to Estonia had also been damaged, without being able to identify the cause.
The cable is believed to have been damaged at the same time as the Balticconnector pipeline.
It will take at least five months to repair the gas pipeline, its operator said in October, leaving Finland dependent on liquefied natural gas imports for the winter.
Natural gas accounts for around five percent of Finland’s energy consumption, being mainly used in industry and combined heat and power production.
Last year, underwater explosions that struck three of the four Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, cutting off a major supply route to Europe from Russia at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and the West over the war in Ukraine.
The cause of that sabotage remains unknown.
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