China admits responsibility for the explosion of a gas pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia in the Baltic Sea.

The explosion on the Balticconnector gas pipeline, which connects the gas networks of Finland and Estonia, in October 2023 occurred due to a Chinese ship, the New Polar Bear, flagged in Hong Kong. This conclusion is contained in a report by China, which was sent to law enforcement agencies in Finland and Estonia, the South China Morning Post reports, citing the document.

According to Beijing, the accident was the result of a severe storm, during which the container ship Newnew Polar Bear under the flag of Hong Kong damaged the gas pipeline with an anchor. Thus, the incident was accidental, the Chinese authorities emphasize.
The Chinese Ministry of Justice has yet to respond to detailed queries from Estonia and Finland. It is understood there has been willingness voiced to comply with the European probes at a later date.

Meanwhile, the document, which was drafted in Chinese and under the rules of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), does not say anything about the two communication cables, also damaged by the anchor. One of them provided a link between Estonia and Sweden, and the second belonged to Russia.

At the same time, the gas pipeline was damaged in Finnish waters, and one of the cables in Estonian waters. The accidents occurred about two hours apart against the backdrop of a strong storm in the Baltic.

At the end of October last year, an anchor was raised from the bottom of the Baltic Sea, which, according to the Finnish police, belonged to the Chinese ship New Polar Bear and damaged the gas pipeline along with cables. The vessel itself was in the Gulf of Finland at the time of the gas pipeline explosion, after which it sailed to St. Petersburg.

The 77 km long Balticconnector gas pipeline is a key source of gas for Finland. Last November, Finnish authorities said Beijing had promised to cooperate with the investigation, and in January, incumbent Finnish President Sauli Niinistö held what he said were "constructive" talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping over the damaged gas pipeline.

The disabling of the Balticconnector by the Chinese ship heightened concerns in the EU about the vulnerability of underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. The explosion on the Estonian-Finnish gas pipeline occurred after three of the four branches of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, which connected Russia and Germany, were blown up in September 2022.

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