YI PENG3

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Bulk carrier inspected for five hours

A total of 14 representatives of Chinese authorities and 12 from Finland, Denmark, Germany and Sweden were on board the 'Yi Peng 3' for five hours on Dec 19. After the inspection, the ship is no longer monitored by patrol vessels,. The Swedish accident commission's investigation department has been able to talk to the crew and examine the technique. The team went ashore in Grenaa after the inspection. Since then, neither Denmark, Finland, Sweden nor Germany have commented on the inspection on the ship, which came about after meetings over two days with Chinese representatives in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said on Dec 19 that it was expected that the ship could set sail towards its destination once the inspection had been completed. As of Dec 20, the bulk carrier was still at anchor.

Swedish police boarded suspicious bulk carrier

Swedish police said on Dec 19 they had gone on board the 'Yi Peng 3' still anchored off the coast of Denmark near Grenaa, at the invitation of Chinese authorities, while Chinese authorities conducted investigations into whether the vessel was responsible for the damage to the Baltic Sea cables on Nov 17-18. The bulk carrier is wanted in Sweden for questioning over a breach of the two undersea fibre-optic cables. Danish authorities were facilitating the visit to the bulk carrier. The Swedish police participated as observers while Chinese authorities conducted investigations. The Swedish Maritime Accident Investigation Board also participated. The Swedish government has held diplomatic talks with China where the message has been that the ship should be examined by Swedish authorities. In parallel, the preliminary investigation into sabotage in connection with the cable breaks was continuing. The police esd investigating the cable breaks as suspected sabotage and have, among other things, enlisted the help of the Armed Forces to examine the bottom of the Baltic Sea in search of evidence.

New suspicion against Chinese freighter

The 'Yi Peng 3', being suspected of having cut an underwater data cable between Denmark and Sweden on Nov 17 by dragging its anchor along the seabed, may have tried to sabotage three other data cables in the area too. Investigative journalists from TV 2 and TV 4, together with drone operator Trond Larsen from the company Blueye Robotics, took a boat to the Kattegat. Larsen launched an underwater drone exactly where the 'Yi Peng 3' passed over a data cable on Nov 7. After four hours of sailing, the drone hit the cable. The ship's AIS data shows that it slowed down three times on its voyage before the incident on Nov 17: once just above the data cable that the journalists were investigating, and twice above a power cable. 850 metres past the data cable (the third in a row), 20 kilometres from the Danish island of Læsø, the ship also came to a standstill, while it is unusual for a cargo ship to slow down for no apparent reason. The vessel did not slow down anywhere else on the route between Port Said and Russia, according to the AIS data. There were also no other ships in the vicinity for which the 'Yi Peng 3' had slowed down. In the area where the ship slowed down, a pit and a deep ditch can be seen on the seabed nearby which was man-made. Fisheries expert Ole Ritzau Eigaard rules out that the ditch was made by a trawler, a fishing vessel that drags a net across the seabed. According to him, two parallel tracks would then be visible, which are much shallower than this one. Defence analyst Jens Wenzel Kristoffersen is also adamant: the track matches the shipping route of the 'Yi Peng 3', and the imprint in the seabed is that of an anchor. He is supported by colleagues, although they wanted to wait for further investigation to provide 100 % certainty.