Reuters-China ship is focus of pipeline damage probe Finland says
October 20, 2023 3 min 519 words
根据芬兰国家调查局（NBI）的声明，他们正在对巴尔蒂连接器天然气管道的损坏展开调查，而调查的焦点目前集中在中国的NewNew Polar Bear货船上。在10月8日早些时候，芬兰与爱沙尼亚连接的天然气管道和电信电缆遭到损坏，芬兰的调查人员认为可能是蓄意破坏，尽管他们尚未确定是事故还是故意行为。 有关部门表示：“警方在刑事调查中已确认，携带中国香港旗帜的NewNew Polar Bear货船在天然气管道损坏的时间和地点有活动。” 因此，他们现在将调查的重点放在这艘货船上。 此外，芬兰外交部表示，他们已通过外交渠道联系中国和俄罗斯，寻求与NewNew Polar Bear货船的联系以进行调查。这一事件引发了对北欧地区能源供应安全性的担忧，促使北约军事联盟增加了波罗的海巡逻活动。 总之，这一调查引发了国际关注，关乎天然气管道损坏事件的背后可能的动机和责任。我们需要等待进一步的调查结果来获取更多信息。
The investigation into the damage to the Balticonnector gas pipeline is now focused on the role of the Chinese NewNew Polar Bear container vessel, Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Friday.
Early on Oct. 8, a gas pipeline and a telecoms cable connecting Finland and Estonia were broken, in what Finnish investigators say may have been sabotage, though they have yet to conclude whether it was an accident or a deliberate act.
"The police have established in the criminal investigation that the movements of the vessel NewNew Polar Bear flying the flag of Hong Kong coincide with the time and place of the gas pipeline damage," NBI said in a statement.
"For this reason, the investigation is now focused on the role of the said vessel," the investigators added.
The NBI said "a heavy object" was found on the seabed near the pipeline damage and were investigating whether this was linked to the incident.
"The investigation has confirmed that the damage has been caused by an external mechanical force, and based on current knowledge there is no reason to believe the damage has been caused by an explosion," Detective Superintendent Risto Lohi said in the statement.
A recently formed "huge clump of soil" deep in the clay seabed was believed to contain an extremely heavy object, and was the subject of investigation, the NBI said.
"Attempts will be made to lift the object from the sea for technical examination," Lohi said.
NewNew Shipping, the owner and operator of the NewNew Polar Bear, declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.
Separately, Finland's foreign ministry said on Friday it had contacted China and Russia via diplomatic channels regarding the investigation of damage to a pipeline and a telecoms cable.
The Finnish foreign ministry, in a statement to Reuters said it had contacted China to seek help to get in touch with the NewNew Polar Bear.
Regarding Russia, Finland contacted the Russian foreign ministry "stating the seriousness of the matter" and that an investigation had been launched.
A second telecoms cable, linking Sweden and Estonia, suffered a partial outage at around the same time, which may also have been caused by outside influence, Swedish and Estonian authorities have said.
The incidents have stoked concerns about the security of energy supplies in the wider Nordic region and prompted the NATO military alliance to ramp up patrols in the Baltic Sea.
Investigators on Tuesday named the NewNew Polar Bear, which travels between China and Europe via the Arctic, and the Sevmorput, a Russian nuclear-powered cargo vessel transiting between Murmansk and St. Petersburg.
Russia's Rosatom said the Sevmorput had no link to any of the pipeline damage.
"We categorically reject as groundless any suggestions that a Rosatom-operated ship may have been in any way connected to the Balticconnector pipeline incident in the Gulf of Finland on October 8," Rosatom said in a statement to Reuters.
"It passed through the Gulf of Finland, an area of intense maritime traffic, without stopping or slowing down, maintaining an average speed of 14.5 knots. The crew did not observe or record anything unusual, suspicious, or otherwise reportable."