Sweden finds no evidence of deliberate damage to Baltic cables, but China still obstructs investigation

Swedish authorities have announced that a preliminary investigation into cable damage in the Baltic Sea has found no evidence of sabotage. It was previously reported that the breakage of the C-Lion1 (Finland-Germany) and BCS East-West (Lithuania-Sweden) cables in November 2024 may have been an act of sabotage by the crew of the Chinese vessel Yi Peng 3, Datacenter Dynamics recalls. According to investigators, the fact of intentional damage has not yet been reliably established, but the investigation is still ongoing.

However, the investigation is being seriously hampered by China. The Chinese authorities allowed an investigation team from nearby countries to board the vessel, but “obstructed normal investigative procedures.” The Swedish side says there are many signs that it was an accident, but if the attacker is doing something deliberately, they will take steps to avoid detection as much as possible. It was previously established that the Yi Peng 3 was passing over the cables at about the time they were damaged.

Image source: Kotryna Juskaite/unsplash.com

Recently, other cables have been damaged in the Baltic Sea. In particular, in late 2024, the Estlink 2 submarine cable between Finland and Estonia, three internet cables between the same countries, and a cable between Finland and Germany were damaged. Finnish authorities even detained the ship Eagle S, which came under suspicion, but in the end no traces of sabotage were found.

In January, an undersea cable linking Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland became the latest “victim” in a series of incidents in the Baltic Sea. Latvian authorities said the cable was damaged by “external factors.” After Swedish authorities took control of the cargo ship responsible for the incident, an investigation found that weather conditions were likely to blame and that sabotage was unlikely. And in February, Rostelecom’s cable between St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad was damaged.

NATO countries are organizing active protection of infrastructure in the Baltic Sea region as part of the Baltic Sentry initiative and other projects. In December 2024, information appeared about testing floating drones, Sweden allocated three ships and an aircraft for patrols, and Germany announced the launch of an underwater patrol drone.