YI PENG3

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

American embassy contacted Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs already on December 19

While the 'Yi Peng 3' remained at anchor in the Kattegat, monitored by vessels from both Denmark and Germany, for three weeks now, already on Nov 19, the American embassy in Copenhagen contacted the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the matter. On Nov 20, the Danish Maritime Authority and the Ministry of Business were also contacted by the embassy, ​​who wanted to be kept up to date on the Danish authorities' handling of the case, shows an email from the embassy. The inquiry from the USA to Denmark showed that the ship was part of a big political game with many interested observers on the sidelines. The Americans naturally follow China's actions closely in these kinds of matters of a security policy nature. Together with probably Sweden, Denmark is engaged in intense negotiations with China regarding access to examine the ship more closely.

Chinese government signaled its willingness to grant federal police access

Police and naval ships continued to circle around the "Yi Peng 3" in the Kattegat, which is suspected of having damaged two data cables, the "C-Lion 1" between Germany and Finland, and the "BCS-East-West Interlink" between Sweden and Lithuania. The freighter most likely has crossed the places in the Baltic Sea where the cables are located at the same time as the damage to the data cables occurred. Various factors support the suspicion. Shortly after the cables were damaged, the "Yi Peng 3" temporarily stopped its voyage near the data cables and switched the AIS off shortly before crossing the cables and then back on again shortly afterwards. In Oct 2023, the anchor of the "NewNew Polar Bear", also a ship under the Chinese flag, damaged three data cables and the "Balticconnector" pipeline in the Baltic Sea. Its anchor was dragged a good 200 kilometers across the seabed. The Chinese authorities said the reason was an oversight and a storm raging over the Baltic Sea at the time, which was prakctically ruled out Stefan Krüger from the Technical University in Hamburg. The shipping company of the "Yi Peng 3" does not respond, just as the captain of the ship does not want to answer questions over the radio. But the attitude of the Chinese authorities seems to be less evasive in the current cas, probably also due to diplomatic pressure in the background. The clear reaction of the Baltic Sea countries and the deployment of the military are also likely to be a signal to the as yet unknown masterminds behind the damage. The Chinese government has now signaled its willingness to grant the federal police access to the freighter and ready to work with the countries concerned. So far, it has not been possible to inspect the ship and its crew because the damage to the data cables occurred outside the 12-mile zone.

German Federal Police approached Chinese bulk carrier

German Federal police officers have inspected the "Yi Peng 3" with the patrol ship "Bad Düben", which took a close look at the Chinese bulk carrier on Nov 29. To do this, the "Bad Düben" launched the two dinghies, which then approached the hull of the freighter . The Federal Police have not yet revealed any details about the operation. Previously, the Federal Police Headquarters had only announced that it was operating on behalf of the Finnish investigators. Attempts are continuing through diplomatic channels to obtain permission for the investigators to board the freighter. It was unclear whether would agree the requesst to board the ship. On Nov 28 at around 9 p.m., the operator Cinia was able to put the damaged data cable back into operation in Finland. The "Cable Vigilance" arrived back in Kiel on Nov 29 and set course for France via the Kiel Canal. The repair work was accelerated by the smooth and efficient cooperation with the authorities. Regarding the cause of the cable damage, Cinia submitted an official request for an investigation to the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Nov 19.. The C-Lion1 is a 1173-kilometer-long submarine telecommunications cable between Finland and Germany.