Damaged Baltic Sea cables repaired, say operators

Two Baltic Sea telecommunications cables that were severed in Swedish territorial waters have been repaired, their operators said on Friday, amid a probe into a Chinese ship in the area.

An undersea telecom cable connecting Finland and Germany that was ruptured on November 18 was back in operation and “fully restored”, Finnish network operator Cinia said.

“The fault was repaired slightly faster than expected,” Cinia CEO Ari-Jussi Knaapila said.

On November 17, the Arelion cable running from the Swedish island of Gotland to Lithuania was also damaged.

It too had been repaired and was working normally, Martin Sjogren, press officer for the Swedish telecommunications operator Arelion confirmed to AFP on Friday.

Finnish, Swedish and Lithuanian authorities have established a joint team to investigate the damaged cables, with the support of Eurojust, the European Union’s agency for criminal justice cooperation.

Suspicions have been directed at a Chinese ship — the Yi Peng 3 — which ship tracking sites said had sailed over the cables around the time they were cut, although there is nothing to indicate that it was involved in the incidents.

The Yi Peng 3 has remained anchored in the Kattegat Strait between Sweden and Denmark since November 19.

China said Friday it was “willing to work” with a probe.

European officials have said they suspect sabotage linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Kremlin has rejected the comments as “absurd” and “laughable”.