The Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia and several communication cables were damaged in October 2023, when the anchor of the Chinese container ship Newnew Polar Bear hit the pipeline and cables at the bottom of the Gulf of Finland.
Svenska has now acquired previously unpublished material about the case through international journalistic cooperation.
The Estonian public radio company ERR got hold of a recording of the conversation that a crew member of the Newnew Polar Bear had with the Estonian authorities just before the ship’s anchor is suspected to have come loose.
The communication cable between Estonia and Sweden suffered the first documented damage on October 7 at 18:13. Newnew Polar Bear contacted Estonian maritime traffic control at 17:17.
Listen to the conversation here:
The content of the discussion is technical
The conversation is a routine conversation in English that took place when the ship arrived in the Gulf of Finland. In the conversation, the fact that a member of the crew of Newnew Polar Bear speaks English with a clear Chinese accent attracts attention.
Economist– magazine, the crew of Newnew Polar Bear was replaced in Kaliningrad, Russia. The recorded conversation suggests that the person communicating with the Tallinn Traffic Center was a Chinese crew member.
The content of the discussion is technical. Newnew Polar Bear reported to Estonian Maritime Traffic Control that there are 12 containers on board containing 287 tons of dangerous cargo. According to the IMO classification of dangerous substances, the cargo contains, among other things, flammable liquids, corrosive substances and easily self-igniting substances.
The total amount of cargo is 8,339 tons. The crew consists of 21 people, including the commander.
Nothing in the conversation suggests that anything unusual is happening on board. Just an hour later, the first damage occurs when the ship’s anchor tears the communication cable between Sweden and Estonia off Hiidenmaa, Estonia.
The weather conditions in the Baltic Sea are difficult on the day of the event. At the Kõrgessaari coastal station in Hiidenmaa, the maximum wind speed is measured at 28.8 meters per second. According to data from the Meteorological Institute, the wave height of the North Baltic Sea is about 4.5 meters.
The anchor drags along the seabed for several hours and apparently damages the Russian Baltika communication cable. The cable was repaired a month later.
At 01:20 the anchor breaks the Balticconnector gas pipe. The spike of the anchor breaks and detaches, but the anchor chain and the remaining part of the anchor eventually break Elisa’s communication cable between Helsinki and Tallinn.
Research vessels of the Russian Navy in the area
Two research vessels belonging to the Russian Baltic Fleet, named Sibirjakov and Admiral Vladimirskij, moved near the Balticconnector several times in the summer and early fall of 2023. Russia has been suspected of using the vessels for intelligence purposes as well.
In the summer of 2022, Sibirjakov moved near the area where the Nord Stream gas pipelines exploded that fall. The Danish broadcasting company DR filmed armed men on the deck of the Admiral Vladimirskij for the documentary series of the Nordic broadcasting companies called War of the Shadows. The series can be watched on Areena.
The ships can be used to explore the seabed, and their equipment may include miniature submarines. Inter alia Helsingin Sanomat has said that ships also moved near the Balticconnector in the summer of 2023.
Now, Estonian Navy identification photos and radar data confirm that Sibirjakov was in the Western Gulf of Finland from May 29 to May 31 and on August 13, 2023. Admiral Vladimirskij was photographed in the Gulf of Finland on May 27 and July 14, 2023.
Estonian Navy: We may never know what happened
The Estonian Navy estimates that the missions of the Russian ships did not necessarily have anything to do with the Balticconnector. Their presence in the Gulf of Finland at the end of May 2023 can be explained by the fact that later in June the NATO exercise Baltops 23 was held.
Commander of the Estonian Navy, Commodore Ivo Värk points out that Russia also has its own infrastructure in the international sea area between Estonia and Finland, which it controls.
– These ships will not disappear. They will probably continue to come to this small area in the middle of the Gulf of Finland, where Russia has been able to build its own infrastructure underwater, he estimates.
Värk sees no connection between the presence of Russian ships and the events of the Balticconnector gas pipeline.
– I would leave this connection to the investigation. It is entirely speculative whether the Balticconnector break was intentional or an accident. I don’t know, and maybe we won’t know, says Värk.
Technical failure, carelessness or sabotage?
The Finnish authorities are silent on the events as long as the preliminary investigation by the Central Criminal Police (KRP) into the collapse of the Balticconnector gas pipeline continues.
The Central Criminal Police is investigating the case under the criminal title of aggravated vandalism. It requires the intention of the act. KRP tells Svenska that no conclusions can be made until the preliminary investigation is completed.
According to KRP, the incidents could have been caused by a technical fault, negligence or an intentional act.
The Central Criminal Police says that it will possibly inform more about the preliminary investigation in October.
This article is based on a joint project of many European media houses.
The cooperation includes Pointer, the investigative journalism unit of the Dutch KRO-NCRV, the Belgian VRT, the Norwegian NRK, the Estonian ERR, and the German NDR-WDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung. Svenska , Danish DR, Swedish SVT and British BBC have also participated in it.
The project has also collaborated with Marineschepen.nl, Vake.ai, Marinetraffic.com and Dossier Centre.