Estonia recently sought assistance and potential collaboration with China after discovering damage to the underwater telecommunication cables connecting Sweden and Estonia.
Earlier this month, these cables were found damaged, and European authorities are actively investigating the cause. The Estonian government suggested that “human interference” likely caused the damage and is examining the activities of two vessels, the Hong Kong-flagged NewNew Polar Bear and the Russia-flagged Sevmorput, which were in the vicinity during the incident, as indicated by data from MarineTraffic.
China is reportedly cooperating in the investigation, with a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson stating that their vessel was operating normally in the affected waters at the time, without any anomalies, despite adverse sea conditions. As per Reuters, Estonia has not yet contacted Russia, deeming it unnecessary at this stage.
The damage to the telecom cables coincided with a gas pipeline leak reported in Finland. While the causes remain unknown, Finnish officials speculate a potential connection between the incidents and do not rule out the involvement of a “state actor.”