Anchor of Chinese container vessel caused damage to Balticconnector gas pipeline, Finnish police say
Source: Associated Press
Anchor of Chinese container vessel caused damage to Balticconnector gas pipeline, Finnish police say
BY JARI TANNER
Updated 3:39 PM EDT, October 24, 2023
HELSINKI (AP) — Finnish investigators said Tuesday they believed an anchor of a Chinese container ship was dislodged and caused the damage to the undersea Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia on the Baltic Sea earlier this month.
The National Bureau of Investigation, a branch of the Finnish police, said that it has evidence and data pointing to the Hong Kong-flagged cargo vessel Newnew Polar Bear as the culprit in damaging the pipeline running across the Gulf of Finland.
Detective Superintendent Risto Lohi, NBI’s head of the investigation, said in a news conference on Tuesday that a 1.5 to 4-meter-wide dragging trail on the seabed is seen to lead to the point of damage in the gas pipeline.
That trail is believed to have been caused by a heavy 6-ton anchor which the Finnish Navy retrieved late Monday.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/finland-estonia-china-vessel-baltic-sea-gas-pipeline-39334c9c565753c7e189c6efc302e43e
