A Russian fibre optic cable beneath the Baltic Sea was broken final month solely 28 km (17 miles) from the place a fuel pipeline linking Finland and Estonia was broken quickly afterwards, Russian state firm Rostelecom mentioned on Tuesday.
Finnish police imagine injury to the Balticconnector fuel pipeline was attributable to a Chinese language container ship dragging its anchor alongside the seabed however haven’t concluded whether or not this was an accident or a deliberate act.
Safety of sub-sea cables and pipelines within the Baltic has change into a high concern in opposition to the background of the Ukraine conflict, particularly for the reason that blowing-up of Russia’s Nord Stream fuel pipelines final yr. Investigators have but to determine who was accountable.
In an announcement, Rostelecom didn’t touch upon what had prompted the “accident” to the fibre cable that hyperlinks Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad to the remainder of the nation.
Nevertheless, it famous the proximity of the incident to the broken Balticconnector fuel pipeline, by way of each geography and timing.
“Harm to the Rostelecom firm’s fiber optic cable within the Baltic Sea was recorded on October 7, 2023 at 23:30 (Moscow time). The situation of the cable injury is situated 28 km from the part of the Baltic Connector fuel pipeline broken on October 8,” it mentioned.
Finnish police main the pipeline investigation have named the Hong Kong-flagged container provider NewNew Polar Bear because the prime suspect in damaging the fuel pipeline. A big anchor was discovered close by, and the investigators imagine the pipe was damaged as a ship dragged it throughout the ocean mattress.
Operator Gasgrid has mentioned the pipeline could possibly be out of fee till April or longer. China has mentioned it’s prepared to supply the mandatory info in accordance with worldwide regulation.
Two different Baltic telecoms cables, connecting Estonia to Finland and Sweden, had been additionally broken on Oct. 7 and eight.
In its assertion, Rostelecom mentioned a specialised vessel had began repairs on the fibre optic cable on Nov. 5 and the work was anticipated to take 10 days, relying on climate situations.
It mentioned customers had not been affected as a result of information was transmitted through terrestrial routes and backup satellite tv for pc channels.
(Reuters – Further reporting by Anne Kauranen and Terje Solsvik/Enhancing by Gareth Jones)
