Global Courant
Investigators say they believe the damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline earlier this month was caused by a loose anchor from Newnew Polar Bear.
Finnish investigators say they have evidence that the anchor of a Chinese container ship was responsible for damaging a gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea earlier this month.
Police previously said the October 8 rupture of the Balticconnector submarine pipeline, as well as two telecom cables, was caused by external mechanical force and are investigating whether this was a case of sabotage or an accident.
On Tuesday, Finland’s National Investigation Agency (NBI) said they had now recovered a lost anchor from the seabed and that data pointed to the Hong Kong-flagged freighter Newnew Polar Bear as the culprit.
“There are marks in the (anchor) that indicate it has been in contact with the gas pipeline,” Detective Risto Lohi, NBI’s head of investigation, told reporters.
Finnish investigators said they have tried unsuccessfully to contact the ship’s captain and are now cooperating with Chinese officials in the case.
China is willing to provide all necessary information on the case in accordance with international law, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
Whether the damage to the pipeline was intentional, unintentional or caused by “poor sea traffic” is the subject of the next phase of the investigation, officials said.
Beijing has denied any role in the incident and called for an “objective, fair and professional” investigation.
The incident caused the 77-kilometer Balticconnector pipeline, which runs between the Finnish coastal town of Inkoo and the Estonian port of Paldiski, to shift from its original position where it is buried in the seabed, causing damage of up to 300 million euros ( $318 million), according to the latest estimates.
