China admits Hong Kong-flagged ship destroyed key Baltic gas pipeline ‘by accident’

Beijing has admitted that a Chinese-owned ship damaged a critical Baltic Sea gas pipeline running between Estonia and Finland last October, but says it was an accident.

The South China Morning Post understands that the Chinese authorities conducted an internal investigation and recently communicated the results to governments in the European countries.

The Chinese-language report said the accident was the result of a strong storm.

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Both countries are still carrying out a joint criminal inquiry centred on the NewNew Polar Bear, a container ship that was flying the Hong Kong flag at the time of the event. Its registered owner is the Chinese mainland firm NewNew Shipping Line.

While it is understood that the report is circulating in various ministries, it is not submissible as official evidence in the investigations. Authorities in both capitals urged Beijing to respond to their urgent requests for information on the ship.

A spokeswoman for the Estonian prosecutor said the document had not been sent to that office and that it “can’t be used as evidence in an Estonian criminal investigation” in any case.

“We submitted a legal aid request to the Chinese authorities to gather evidence from the vessel and its crew,” said Kairi Kungas, its head of public relations.

“In order to execute the legal aid request, the Chinese authorities can carry out the investigative operations by themselves or involve Estonian investigators, although all activities conducted on Chinese territory must conform to local legislation.

“The Chinese authorities have not provided a response on executing the legal aid request as of yet.”

Finnish border guards captured an image of the NewNew Polar Bear in October last year. Photo: Reuters alt=Finnish border guards captured an image of the NewNew Polar Bear in October last year. Photo: Reuters>

A spokeswoman for the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) declined to confirm whether it had received a document, but said its own inquiry was ongoing.

“During the investigation, co-operation with the Chinese authorities has been done and among others NBI has submitted a request for legal assistance to the competent Chinese authorities,” said Anna Zareff, NBI’s head of communications, in a written statement.

“It must be stated that the investigation is still ongoing and final conclusions, what was behind these incidents (technical failure-negligence/poor seamanship-deliberate act), can be made only after all necessary investigative measures have been finalised and this will still take some time,” her statement said.

The Chinese foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Authorities in the two EU member states have said that the ship dragged its anchor along the seabed, slicing through a crucial gas cable and also damaging two telecoms cables running between the two countries on the night of October 7 or morning of October 8.

Statements from Finnish investigators at the time described a “1.5 to 4 metre-wide [5-13ft] dragging trail” leading to the “point of damage in the gas pipeline”.

“In the distance of a few metres from the gas pipeline damage point, there was an anchor which is believed to have caused the wide dragging trail and the damage itself,” the October 24 statement said.

It added that once the anchor was lifted, there were “traces in it which indicate it had been in contact with the gas pipeline”.

Finland and Estonia say the pipeline was severed by the ship’s anchor being dragged along the seabed. Photo: Reuters alt=Finland and Estonia say the pipeline was severed by the ship’s anchor being dragged along the seabed. Photo: Reuters>

The 77km (48-mile) Balticconnector pipeline is a key source of energy for Finland.

Sources said the Chinese-language report claimed to have been conducted in line with International Maritime Organization rules.

The Chinese Ministry of Justice has yet to respond to detailed queries from Estonia and Finland. It is understood there has been willingness voiced to comply with the European probes at a later date.

That assurance came in response to comments by Estonia’s state prosecutor Triinu Olev in May that Beijing had yet to provide any information.

“We need to collect additional evidence to determine whether the damage was caused intentionally or by accident,” Olev said at the time.

After the incident, the NewNew Polar Bear sailed to St Petersburg, and was subsequently photographed in the Arkhangelsk region of Russia, before eventually docking in Tianjin.

Last November, the Finnish authorities said Beijing had pledged to fully cooperate with the investigation and in January then-president Sauli Niinisto held what Helsinki described as “constructive” talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping about the damaged pipeline.

The October incident came at a time of heightened suspicion among Baltic states towards China, largely due to its close ties with Russia in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. This closeness towards Moscow has also caused a more general deterioration in relations with the European Union.

The damage to the pipeline also raised further alarm about the vulnerability of undersea infrastructure.

It followed the destruction of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines connecting Russia and Germany in September 2022 in a series of explosions that have yet to be explained.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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