VILNIUS, October 17. /TASS/. A Chinese ship was in the vicinity of the Estonian-Finnish Balticconnector gas pipeline at the time of the incident where the pipeline was damaged, the Estonian publication Postimees reported.
"According to the database of the real-time ship tracking service Marine Traffic, the Newnew Polar Bear container ship, which belongs to China, but sails under the flag of Hong Kong (the Hong Kong special administrative region of China has its own flag - TASS), the weekend before last [when the incident occurred] was close to the gas pipeline," the newspaper wrote.
The publication claims that the container ship was traveling at its normal speed of 11 knots, but for an unknown reason began to slow down when approaching the Balticconnector, dropping its speed to 9.5 knots, and after 15 minutes it increased speed to above 11 knots.
The Postimees publication attributed the mild reaction of the Estonian government and the lack of request for clarification from the Chinese side to Tallinn’s reluctance to spoil relations with Beijing.
The operation of an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was suspended due to a suspected leak. Finnish authorities said at a press conference on October 10 that the damage to the gas pipeline, discovered early on the morning of October 9, was likely the result of external interference.
The Balticconnector pipeline connects the gas systems of Finland and Estonia. Its total length is 151 km, including 77 km along the bottom of the Gulf of Finland. The underwater part stretches between the city of Inkoo (Uusimaa region, southern part of Finland) and Paldiski (Harjumaa county, northern part of Estonia). The pipeline’s capacity is 2.6 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Gas runs through a single pipe both in the northern and southern directions. Estonia and Finland stated that the suspension of the gas pipeline will not affect their energy security.