It has been there since November 19, when it dropped anchor, with at least one Danish warship as a permanent shadow. In a position that is hardly accidental.
So what’s up with that ship? We will be back there on November 17 in the morning. An undersea internet cable, the BCS East West Interlink, running between Sweden and Lithuania, was destroyed. At the exact same time that Yi Peng 3 crossed the cable.
The day after November 18, early in the morning, the submarine Internet cable C-Lion1 connecting Finland and Germany was also destroyed. At exactly the same time that “Yi Peng 3” crossed the cable.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was early on, saying that “no one believes that these cables were cut by accident.” And in that connection, “Yi Peng 3” was quickly named as a suspect when it became clear that it had sailed across both cables just as they were destroyed.
What kind of ship is that?
Yi Peng 3 is a dry cargo ship – which can load loose goods such as grain, coal and the like – of 75,212 tonnes deadweight, 224 meters long, 32 meters wide and a draft of around 14.5 meters deep when fully loaded. It was built in 2001 and at 23 years old is an older lady on the world’s oceans. The ship is classified as Panamax and can therefore sail through the Panama Canal.
“Yi Peng 3” sails under the Chinese flag, and is therefore allowed to call in Russia, as China does not participate in the sanctions against Russia that have been adopted in connection with Russia’s war against Ukraine.
According to Zetland, the “Yi Peng 3” is loaded with fertilizer, as it loaded in Russia.
Who owns the ship?
The ship is owned by Ningbo Yipeng Shipping Co. Ltd, who bought the ship in 2016.
The company belongs in the large Chinese port city of Ningbo, which is opposite Shanghai to the south of Hangzhou Bay. It is managed by the company Win Enterprise Ship Management, which also belongs to Ningbo.
The Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat was in Ningbo a few days ago, where they found that the address where the owner company is registered is empty.
The place is registered as a “Military administration zone”, and the Finnish journalists were shown away by soldiers.
On the other hand, Helsingin Sanomat managed to get a short interview with the director of Win Enterprise Ship Management, who, however, could not – or would – shed any light on the matter. He contented himself with stating that the company was in daily contact with the crew, that the daily reports have been completely normal, and that he knew nothing about the cable breaks until he read about it on the Internet.
The ship has previously sailed under the name “Avra”. At the time it was owned and managed by the Greek shipping company Carras Hellas in Athens.
Where did “Yi Peng 3” come from?
As previously mentioned, the ship must call at Russian ports, and that is exactly what it did. It came from Ust-Luga, a small port town on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland about 100 kilometers west of St. Petersburg close to the border with Estonia.
It called at the port on November 12 and put to sea again on November 15 with a destination that, at least according to the ship’s AIS, is set to Port Said in Egypt.
Prior to the current trip from Ust-Luga, Yi Peng 3 sailed from Murmansk, Russia to Port Said, from where it then set course for Ust-Luga.
Why suspect Yi Peng 3?
As previously mentioned, the ship crossed the two broken cables at the exact times when the cables stopped working.
On the map, the times are in what is called in military parlance “Zulu time”, which corresponds to UTC (or GMT). The Baltic countries are in the Eastern European time zone, which is UTC+2. The violations occurred at 4 a.m. or 10.00 local time.
This in itself proves nothing, but it is at least striking.
About a year ago, the Chinese-owned container ship “NewNew Polar Bear” also tore over a gas line and an internet cable in the Gulf of Finland.
It happened as the ship pulled an anchor across the seabed, and although social media users with open source intelligence analysis (OSINT) tools were quick to point to the NewNew Polarbear as the prime suspect, precisely because it had passed the two destroyed installations at the same time as the breaches happened, in addition to finding one of the ship’s two anchors on the spot, several months passed before China would admit that it was the NewNew Polar Bear that had caused the damage – according to China at a accident that happened during a storm.
According to TV 2, in the end it came to a complete stop when the ship, heading inwards through the Kattegat on its way to Russia, passed over some electricity and internet cables that run between Læsø and Sweden. Which doesn’t exactly lessen the mystery.
What can we do?
Because “Yi Peng 3” is just anchored in international waters: Not very much. The International Convention on the Law of the Sea states that ships in international waters are legally considered an exclave belonging to the flag state. In this case, a piece of Chinese territory.
And it is a challenge, says Birgit Feldtmann, who is professor of law at Aalborg University, specializing in, among other things, maritime law.
– Right now you’re looking at each other. International waters in this context are also the countries’ exclusive economic zones, so even if the coastal states Sweden, Lithuania, Finland and also Germany have interests in the case, because the cables run between those countries, it is China that has the competence to investigate and prosecute the case, says Birgit Feldtmann.
“Yi Peng 3” is just north of the 12-mile border that separates Danish territorial waters from international waters. OpenStreetMaps
Which basically works well enough, as long as the ship acts on its own, so to speak. But what if the ship is acting on behalf of Chinese interests? Then China can basically just reject polite requests from Danish authorities to come on board and refrain from investigating anything.
– Denmark cannot impose a kind of general police authority in international waters, says Birgit Feldtmann.
There is also a good deal of politics involved, because even if Denmark might have an interest in pushing the limits of the conventions in this particular case, it must be weighed against the disadvantages.
– Denmark is a small country with a fairly large merchant fleet, and if we go out and push the limits, it could affect us ourselves if others start boarding, for example, Maersk’s container ships on time and off time, says Birgit Feldtmann.
2024-11-29 18:47:00
#Whats #Chinese #ship
What factors might have led Ningbo Yipeng Shipping Co. Ltd. to purchase the Yi Peng 3 (formerly Avra) in 2016?
The provided text states that the Yi Peng 3 is owned by:
* **Ningbo Yipeng Shipping Co. Ltd**
They bought the ship in 2016. The company is based in Ningbo, a large Chinese port city. It is managed by the company **Win Enterprise Ship Management**, also located in Ningbo.
The text also mentions that a Greek shipping company, **Carras Hellas** in Athens, previously owned and managed the ship when it was known as “Avra”.
