Repair of cut transmission cable to Germany started in the Baltic Sea

The repair of a damaged undersea telecommunications cable running from Helsinki to Rostock, Germany, began on Monday. The repair work, which is being carried out in the Swedish economic zone, is expected to last until the end of November, Finnish fibre-optic network provider Cinia reported.

The location of the cut in the C-Lion1 cable has been determined to be at a depth of about 50 m, east of the southern shores of Öland, about 700 km from Helsinki, i.e. about halfway along the cable, the operator’s release said.

The cable is being repaired by a unit from France belonging to Alcatel Submarine Networks. Finnish investigators are also working at the site with the support of a border guard unit, the release from the Central Criminal Police Office (CRP) said.

The failure of the Finnish-German cable was reported last Monday. At the same time, a second cable between Lithuania and Sweden was broken. Authorities in the various countries involved in the investigation assume that the cables were damaged due to an ‘external force’. In Helsinki, the case is being investigated as an act of vandalism and an act to disrupt telecommunications, while in Stockholm it is being investigated for possible sabotage and in Vilnius also as a terrorist act.

– We are aware of ships that were in the area at the time of the damage, as well as a Chinese ship, which has been widely reported in the media, said Commissioner Risto Lohi, who is leading the investigation.

According to Scandinavian media reports, the Chinese cargo ship Yi Peng 3, which was passing close to the damage site, may be linked to the cable damage. The vessel is currently anchoring between Denmark and Sweden in the Kattegat Strait off the Baltic Sea.

The Danish broadcaster reported on Monday that authorities from various countries are currently negotiating with China about the possibility of boarding the vessel and questioning the crew.

‘Helsingin Sanomat’, in turn, writes that in addition to naval and coast guard vessels from Denmark, Sweden and Germany tracking the movement of the Chinese ship, the Russian corvette Mercury has also appeared in the region. Russia is also monitoring the situation and the presence of its warship in the strait is a demonstration of strength, commentators assessed.

Source: PortalMorski.pl