Chinese Captain Accused Of Damaging Baltic Sea Cables Appears In Hong Kong Court
The captain of a Hong Kong-registered ship accused of damaging undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea appeared in a Hong Kong court on Friday and was assigned a duty lawyer. The court postponed the case until September to give the prosecution more time to collect evidence.
Wan Wenguo, a 43-year-old Chinese national, is the captain of the feeder container ship NewNew Polar Bear. He appeared in the Eastern Magistrates’ Court in Hong Kong without legal representation, so the court provided him with a duty lawyer.
According to a charge sheet seen by Reuters, Wan is accused of causing criminal damage to the Balticconnector, an undersea natural gas pipeline, and submarine telecom cables connecting Finland and Estonia on October 8, 2023. The charge states that he damaged property belonging to others “without lawful excuse” and was “reckless as to whether such property would be damaged.”
The prosecution told the court it needs more time to gather documents and other evidence from Estonian and Finnish authorities. The magistrate then adjourned the case until September 26. Wan is also facing two more charges for breaking shipping safety rules, including violations of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.
He was arrested in May and appeared in court then as well. During that hearing, Wan did not ask for bail and was taken into custody. On Friday, he again did not apply for bail and remains in detention.
The case is linked to rising concerns in the Baltic Sea region, where several incidents involving damage to power cables, gas pipelines, and telecom networks have been reported since the war in Ukraine began in 2022. These incidents have raised fears of sabotage.
Some European governments have accused Russia of targeting critical infrastructure through hybrid attacks. However, Moscow has denied these claims and accused the West of waging an information war against it.
Investigators in Finland believe the NewNew Polar Bear dragged its anchor along the seabed, damaging the Balticconnector pipeline between Finland and Estonia. Estonian authorities suspect the ship also damaged telecom cables connecting Estonia to Finland and Sweden between October 7 and 8, before heading to a port near Saint Petersburg in Russia.
Investigations by Finnish and Estonian officials are still ongoing. So far, they have not confirmed whether the damage was caused intentionally or by accident.
Reference: Reuters