A Chinese ship is suspected of sabotaging undersea cables

A Chinese commercial ship is suspected of deliberately dragging its anchor to cut undersea cables that connect countries over the internet, The Wall Street Journal reports.

International investigators reportedly believe the crew aboard Yi Peng 3, a bulk carrier full of Russian fertilizer, dragged its anchor for more than 100 miles across the Baltic seabed, damaging the cables that run across it. Two different internet links — one between Sweden’s Gotland Island and Lithuania, and another between Finland and Germany — stopped working earlier this month, prompting the investigation by authorities from all four countries and other nations, according to the Journal.

Investigators are now trying to figure out if Russian intelligence officials ordered the cable’s destruction, the outlet reports, though Russia has denied wrongdoing. Unnamed sources who spoke to the Journal said the ship’s owner, Ningbo Yipeng Shipping, is cooperating with investigators. The Journal says several unnamed Western law enforcement and intelligence officials don’t believe the Chinese government was part of the suspected scheme.

It’s not the first time European officials have suspected Russia of undersea infrastructure sabotage since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But officials have been hesitant to accuse the Kremlin outright of interference, the Journal reports, in part for fear of further escalating tensions between Russia and Europe.