Technical examinations of an anchor recovered from the seabed between Finland and Estonia have confirmed that it belongs to a Hong Kong flagged Chinese vessel.
The NewNew Polar Bear ship is known to have been moving in the region when damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline was first detected.
"At this stage, it can be said that the anchor that was recovered from the sea on 24 October fits the anchor of the NewNew Polar Bear in terms of certain technical specifications. The same type of paint has also been found on the anchor as on the damaged gas pipeline," Detective Inspector Risto Lohi of Finland's National Bureau of Investigation stated.
The Balticconnector pipeline was damaged in the early hours of Sunday 8 October, with Finnish authorities stating in the immediate aftermath of the incident that the damage was likely the result of "external activity".
The investigation soon focused on the movements of the NewNew Polar Bear vessel, which coincided with the time and place the pipeline was damaged. The initial probe also revealed the presence of a wide drag mark on the seabed on one side of the damaged pipeline, and a narrow drag mark was found on the other side — which continued to the east for several kilometers.
Suspicions were raised further when a photo of the vessel docked in the port of St Petersburg appeared on the Russian Port News website on 9 October — one day after the damage to the pipeline occurred. The photograph showed the ship's leftside anchor chains were evident on the quay side, even though the vessel was moored to the quay.
"Technical investigations are still ongoing, even though the active site investigation of the incident has been completed," Lohi said.
The NBI is probing the incident as a suspected case of aggravated criminal mischief.
Finnish state-owned operator Gasgrid Finland has stated that the pipeline will be back in operation by April 2024 at the earliest.
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