Finland sends a ship to investigate the site of cable damage in the Baltic Sea

24 November, 2024 Coast Guard ship OPV Turva. Photo from open source The Finnish Coast Guard has sent a patrol ship to investigate the site of cable damage in the Baltic Sea.

This was reported on the official page of the Coast Guard on X. The patrol ship OPV Turva is currently in the southern Baltic Sea at the site of the C-Lion1 cable damage. The ship's crew, together with the Finnish police, is conducting underwater surveys to determine the nature of the damage and establish the causes of the rupture.

Coast Guard ship OPV Turva at the site of the cable break.

Photo credits: Finnish Coast Guard

Finnish military experts note that the cable damage is a serious challenge for the Finnish Coast Guard and Navy. These structures are now forced to provide escorts for civilian vessels passing over strategically important cables, including those used by the intelligence and defense ministries. The telecommunications cable was damaged on Monday, November 18, 2024, after the Chinese cargo ship Yi Peng 3 passed over it.

In addition to Finland and Germany, Sweden and Lithuania also reported damage to the submarine cable. The Chinese cargo ship has now been detained by a Danish Royal Navy ship to interrogate the crew and to learn more about their course and actions in the vicinity of the telecommunications cables.

The Coast Guard ship OPV Turva and the German police patrol ship Bamberg at the site of the cable break. Photo credits: Finnish Coast Guard

In addition to Finnish coast guard and police units, the German police patrol ship Bamberg is on the scene and has joined the Finnish side in the investigation.

Militarnyi previously reported that Russia had sent a warship to the Kattegat Strait between Denmark and Sweden to observe the Chinese ship that damaged the cables. According to military experts, the corvette Mercury arrived at the specified location to observe the situation with the Chinese cargo ship Yi Peng 3. Yi Peng 3 left the Russian port on November 11.

It was reported that the ship's captain is a Russian, Alexander Stechentsev.

He confirmed to The Insider that he was on the ship when it left Ust-Luga but as a pilot.