No evidence has been found that the Chinese ship "Yi Peng 3" intentionally damaged data cables on the seabed. Jonas Bäckstrand, who led the investigation, told the media outlet SVT.
- We cannot determine with certainty what happened on board, he says.
In mid-November last year, two underwater cables were damaged in the Baltic Sea - one between Finland and Germany, the other between Sweden and Lithuania. Suspicion was directed at Russia and the Chinese ship, which had been anchored in the Kattegat for several weeks.
According to Bäckstrand, the investigations show that the ship dragged the anchor behind it for a day and a half, but they cannot prove that it was intentional.
- There is much evidence that this was an accident. But at the same time, it is clear that if someone deliberately wants to do something, they will probably try to do it in a way that avoids detection, he tells SVT.
As the Chinese ship was anchored in international waters, the Swedish authorities were only allowed to board the ship a month after the cable break. In addition, the authorities have not been given access to some of the ship's electronic material such as the navigation chart system or the black box, the Swedish media writes. According to SVT, the investigation has been carried out in cooperation with the Chinese accident commission.
Asked whether it has been possible for the ship's crew to speak freely with the investigators, Bäckstrand replies that this has not been done under "normal conditions". There is a lot of attention on submarine cables in the Baltic Sea after several incidents with damaged cables. At the end of February, the EU established a joint action plan to prevent submarine cable damage.
- We have seen that almost anything can be used as a weapon against us. We cannot accept this, said Henna Virkkunen, who is the EU Commission's senior vice-president for tech control, security and democracy, according to Swedish TT during a presentation of the plan.
With the initiative, the EU will increase monitoring of undersea cables and also create a fleet that can repair the cables in emergency situations.
According to Virkkunen, at least 540 million euros will be allocated to the initiative. This corresponds to just over four billion Danish kroner.
jel /ritzau/
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