The Nord Stream cable break suspect - the Chinese ship Yi Peng 3 - may have been trying to sabotage cables off the Danish island of Læso 10 days before the incident.
According to underwater footage, underwater footage analysis and AIS system data taken by Danish broadcaster TV2, the Yi Peng 3 had suspicious actions near Læso Island on November 7.
According to Scandasia, the underwater unmanned aerial vehicles operated by TV2, TV2 Nord and TV4 Sweden off Læso recorded a very large, dark trace on the seabed.
Drone operator Trond Larsen of Blueye Robotics confirmed that these traces matched the coordinates of the Yi Peng 3 when it passed through the Danish data cable on November 7. There is a clear sign that there is a trace in the same direction as the Yi Peng 3, he said.
The latest discovery reinforces experts' suspicions that the Yi Peng 3 may have been involved in the sabotage of three Danish-Swedish cables located on the seabed off Læso.
New AIS data shows that the Yi Peng 3 slowed down as it passed through cables off Læso and then stopped completely.
The ship remained in this state for about five minutes before the duck feet were turned back on and the ship sailed south through the Kattegat Strait.
Data shows that this is the only time the Chinese ship has done so during its route from Port Said in Egypt to Ust-Luga in Russia.
A former captain and defense analyst for Nordic Defense Analysis told TV2: "I have doubts about a merchant ship - which is essentially going from port to port - operating in this way. A merchant ship would not normally act like that."
"From the AIS traces, you can see that this 225-meter ship did not take any avoiding action like other ships," said defense analyst Jens Wenzel Kristoffersen. Therefore, it is suspected that the speed of the ship was reduced just above or when passing over the cable."
The Yi Peng 3 is currently anchored in the Kattegat Strait, with Danish, Swedish and German naval vessels monitoring it. The Chinese ship is being investigated for a cable break in the Baltic Sea, which disrupted communications between several European countries. The two cable breaks near Nord Stream are the Arelion cable connecting Sweden with Lithuania and the C-Lion1 cable connecting Finland with Germany. The Chinese ship was accused of severing the cable by dragging its anchor along the seabed for 160 km.
Sweden, Finland and Lithuania are investigating the cable break near Nord Stream on 17 and 18 November. Stockholm has sent an official request to China, asking Beijing to cooperate in the investigation of the cable break. China has expressed its willingness to support efforts to find out the truth about the cable break near Nord Stream.
