Chinese Captain Arrested On Charges Of Damaging Baltic Sea Cables Pleads Not Guilty

Chinese Captain arrested on charges of criminal damage after his ship’s anchor damaged undersea cables in the Baltic Sea has pleaded not guilty in the court hearing on Wednesday.

The 44-year-old Wan Wenguo, who was the captain of the container vessel NewNew Polar Bear, denied all the charges pressed against him.

He is alleged to have damaged an underwater natural gas pipeline and telecom cables that ran between Finland and Estonia in October 2023.

According to the chargesheet, he was ‘reckless’ and ‘without lawful excuse damaged the property belonging to another.’

Investigators stated that his ship dragged its anchor over the pipeline and the cables, which severed them.

Later, a broken anchor was found near the pipeline, and an investigation showed it belonged to the NewNew Polar Bear.

Wan’s lawyer, Jerry Chung, said that 18 prosecution witnesses will testify in the case, which includes one charge of criminal damage and two charges of failing to ensure that his ship complied with the Safety requirements under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.

The witnesses include officials from Hong Kong, crew members, experts from the maritime world, investigators, etc.

The next hearing is scheduled for May 5, 2026.

Many blamed Russia for this incident, according to a prosecution lawyer who spoke on the condition of anonymity; no evidence to support this claim has been found.

He also said that Nordic and Baltic authorities are bent on proving intent and want to convict anybody, including Wan, for the incident.

The Baltic Sea region has seen many such incidents of damage to undersea communication cables since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

In response, NATO has increased the naval forces in the region with regular patrols by frigates, drones and aircraft.

The ship is said to have severed three telecom cables: a Russian one linking St Petersburg to Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, and two others connecting Estonia to Finland and Sweden on Oct. 7-8, 2023, before hitting a gas pipeline on its way to a port near St Petersburg, Russia.

Source: Maritime Shipping News