Estonian defence minister doubts China’s claim pipeline damage was accidental

Estonia’s defence minister, Hanno Pevkur, is sceptical of Beijing’s claims that a Chinese ship accidentally wrecked a key Baltic pipeline last year.

On Monday, the South China Morning Post reported Chinese authorities had admitted that in October 2023 a Chinese-owned ship damaged the Balticconnector pipeline that runs between Estonia and Finland, but said it had been an accident.

The Chinese-language account, which was shared with ministries in the European countries, attributed the incident to a strong storm.

Estonia and Finland are pursuing a joint criminal inquiry centred on the NewNew Polar Bear, a container ship flying the Hong Kong flag at the time of the event. Its registered owner is the Chinese mainland firm NewNew Shipping Line.

“Personally, I find it very difficult to understand how a ship’s captain could fail to notice for such a long time that its anchor had been dragging along the seabed, but it is up to the prosecutor’s office to complete the investigation,” Pevkur told Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR), Estonia’s public broadcaster.

Repair work on the pipeline concluded in April at a cost of €35 million (US$38.3 million), but Pevkur said it was unlikely that Beijing would pay for the repairs.