An anchor found at the site of damage to the Balticconector undersea gas pipeline between Estonia and Finland belongs to a Chinese vessel. This was reported by the Finnish police; a translation of the press release into Russian was posted by Yle.
On the night of October 8, the pressure in a gas pipeline running across the Baltic Sea dropped sharply due to damage, and it was shut off. The President of Finland then named “external influence” among the possible causes of the accident, and Yle’s sources in the intelligence services spoke directly about suspicions against Russia.
Two weeks later, a two-meter anchor with a broken part was raised from the bottom, and Finnish police suggested that the leak could be related to the Chinese cargo ship Newnew Polar Bear, flying the Hong Kong flag, which was in the area of the accident at the time.< /p>
“It can now be stated that the anchor raised from the bottom of the sea on October 24, according to technical data, corresponds to the anchor for the Newnew Polar Bear,” said Criminal Police Inspector Risto Loja in today’s press release. According to him, traces of paint were found at the anchor, which was also applied to the gas pipeline.
An anchor found near a gas pipeline. Photo: Finnish National Bureau of Investigation
The gas pipeline, the underwater part of which is 77 kilometers, was opened in December 2019. The pipeline gives Finland access to Latvian natural gas storage facilities in Incukalns. Finnish Gasum, which before the war entered into a long-term contract with Gazprom until 2031, suspended gas supplies from Russia in May 2022 and began purchasing it from other suppliers via the Balticconnector pipeline.