Finnish police: a ship flying the Hong Kong flag could have damaged the Balticconnector

The movements of the Hong Kong-flagged Newnew Polar Bear correspond to the time and location of the damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia. About it reported Finnish central criminal police.

According to the National Bureau of Investigation, it has been technically clarified how the damage to the gas pipeline was caused. Detective Superintendent Risto Lohi said a 1.5 to 4m wide mark could be seen on the seabed leading to the site where the gas pipeline was damaged. An anchor was found several meters away from the damage to the gas pipeline, which is believed to have caused the damage.

On the morning of October 24, the anchor was raised. According to Loja, there are marks on it indicating that it came into contact with a gas pipeline.

“In addition, we were unable to visually confirm that both of the vessel’s forward anchors were in place, which helped focus suspicion on this particular vessel,” Lohi said.

Newnew Polar Bear was contacted several times, but “they were not willing to cooperate.” It is clarified that the use of coercive measures against the vessel “does not fall within the competence of the police.”

The police also notedthat the version of Russian involvement in the incident at the facility is not considered a priority.

On the afternoon of October 8, Finnish Gasgrid reported a drop in pressure in the Balticconnector at night. According to the company, the cause could be a leak. The Finnish government later admitted that this may have been due to a deliberate act. On October 11, the Finnish government’s Foreign and Security Policy Committee reported that the damage could have been caused by “external activities.”