A Hong Kong-flagged container ship owned by a China mainland firm damaged a natural gas pipeline between Estonia and Finland in the Baltic Sea last autumn, but it was all by accident, Chinese authorities have told the two EU member states, according to sources cited by South China Morning Post.
In October 2023, the Balticconnector pipeline between Estonia and Finland in the Baltic Sea was damaged. Initial investigations zoomed in on suspected sabotage, with the Nord Steam pipeline sabotage from the prior year still fresh in prosecutors' offices across the EU.
A Chinese ship was implicated in the incident, with the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) saying it believes the damage was caused by "an external force" that was "mechanical, not an explosion" and later revealed that a large anchor - believed to belong to the 169-meter-long ship - was found near the pipeline and likely broke off as it was dragged across the sea floor.
The offshore Balticconnector pipeline that transports natural gas between Finland to Estonia was shut down because of a suspected leak that occurred in the early hours of October 8, 2023. The pipeline carries natural gas from Finland, where there is an LNG import terminal, to Estonia.
Following the Balticconnector pipeline incident, Finland restricted access to parts of its LNG import terminal at the Inkoo port, while Norway beefed up security at its key oil and gas installations.
Now the Chinese admit it was the China-owned Hong Kong-flagged ship that damaged the pipeline, but it was all by accident that was the result of a strong storm in the Baltic Sea, according to an internal investigation conducted by the Chinese authorities and reported by South China Morning Post. This report, however, is not admissible as official evidence, the publication noted.
Estonia and Finland continue their joint investigation into the pipeline damage focusing on the Chinese ship, and have urged China to respond to requests for information on the implicated vessel.
Balticconnector returned to service six months after the incident, in April 2024, after repair work and tests were carried out.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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Charles is a writer for Oilprice.com More