Chinese Captain in Baltic Sea Cable Damage Case Appears in Court
The captain of a Hong Kong-registered ship alleged to have damaged undersea cables in the Baltic Sea was assigned a lawyer in a Hong Kong court on Friday, with the case adjourned until September to allow the prosecution to gather more evidence.Wan Wenguo, the captain of the container ship NewNew Polar Bear, appeared in Hong Kong's Eastern magistrates' court without legal representation so was assigned a duty lawyer by the court.The 43-year-old Chinese national is alleged to have caused "criminal damage" to an underwater natural gas pipeline and submarine telecom cables between
Sabotage: Two Undersea Cables Cut in Baltic Sea
, Ari-Jussi Knaapila, told a news conference.Last year a subsea gas pipeline and several telecoms cables running along the bottom of the Baltic Sea were severely damaged in an incident raising alarm bells in the region.Investigators of the 2023 cases in Finland and Estonia have named a Chinese container ship that they believe dragged its anchor and caused the damage. But they have not said whether the damage was accidental or intentional.In 2022 the Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia to Germany in the Baltic Sea were destroyed by explosions in a case that remains under investigation by German
Phoenix Dive Crews Wrap Up at Baltimore Bridge Wreck Site
Phoenix International Holdings, Inc. reports it dive crews have completed their work at the site of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.Phoenix said it was contracted by DonJon Marine for diving support in their cleanup and salvage operations shortly after the containership Dali lost power and struck the Maryland bridge in March, killing six people and destroying the Patapsco River crossing.Phoenix Bayou Vista quickly mobilized a 10-man dive team and dispatched its containerized diving systems with chambers and various required equipment to Baltimore to aid in this endeavor. As the
Estonia Says China Has Not Responded to Subsea Cables Probe Request
Oct 7-8, and an Estonia-Finland gas pipeline was broken the same night, hurting energy security and raising alarm bells in the wider region.Both Estonia, which is investigating the cables damage, and Finland, which is looking into the Balticconnector gas pipeline, have named the Hong Kong-registered container ship NewNew Polar Bear as the prime suspect."The Chinese authorities have not provided a response on executing the legal aid request as of yet", Estonian state prosecutor Triinu Olev said in a written statement on Tuesday."We need to collect additional evidence to determine whether
Russian Firm Says Baltic Telecoms Cable was Severed as Chinese Ship Passed Over
A Russian fiber optic cable under the Baltic Sea was completely severed last month when a Chinese container ship passed over it, state company Rostelecom said on Tuesday.Finnish investigators have already said they suspect the vessel, the NewNew Polar Bear, of causing serious damage to the nearby Balticconnector gas pipeline by dragging its anchor over the sea bed during the same voyage.Two other Baltic telecoms cables were damaged on the same night of Oct. 7 along the route that the ship was travelling, according to shipping data reviewed by Reuters.The incidents have highlighted the vulnerability of
Russia Says Telecoms Cable Damaged Last month Just Before Nearby Baltic Gas Pipeline
optic cable under the Baltic Sea was damaged last month only 28 km (17 miles) from where a gas pipeline linking Finland and Estonia was damaged soon afterwards, Russian state company Rostelecom said on Tuesday.Finnish police believe damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline was caused by a Chinese container ship dragging its anchor along the seabed but have not concluded whether this was an accident or a deliberate act.Security of sub-sea cables and pipelines in the Baltic has become a top concern against the background of the Ukraine war, especially since the blowing-up of Russia's
Maiden Voyage For World’s First Electric & Autonomous Container Ship - Yara Birkeland
Yara Birkeland, the world's first electric and self-propelled container ship has set off for its maiden voyage in the Oslo fjord in Norway.No Friday, today, the Norwegian Prime Minister was given a tour by the CEO of Yara, Svein Tore Holsether.Holsether said: "We are proud to be able to showcase the world's first fully electric and self-propelled container ship. It will cut 1,000 tonnes of CO2 and replace 40,000 trips by diesel-powered trucks a year."Friday morning, Holsether welcomed Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Policy Bjørnar
Inmarsat Milestones: 10k Ships with Fleet Express Installed, 'Fleet Data Academy' Launched
trends increasingly drive the maritime world, Inmarsat celebrated a pair of milestones, hitting the 10,000 vessel mark on Fleet Xpress installations and launching its "Fleet Data Academy."Traffic DoublesAccording to Inmarsat, the growth in Fleet Xpress now includes the world’s leading container ship and tanker owners, such as MOL, K-Line and Hapag-Lloyd, offshore support giants like Bourbon, Tidewater and Maersk Supply, as well as growing numbers of yachts, passenger ships and fishing boats. While COVID-19 has, and continues to drive many in-person interactions to the online space, Inmarsat
Australia Pressing Yang Ming to Pay for Container Cleanup
Dozens of containers lost from a ship at sea have been recovered off the coast of Australia as the country's maritime authority continues to press the vessel's owner to pay the $11 million cleanup costs.The 63 boxes plucked from the bottom of the Tasman Sea are among more than 80 lost from Yang Ming's containership YM Efficiency about 20 miles from shore in June 2018. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) says it stepped in to handle the cleanup operations after the Taiwanese shipowner and its insurer Britannia P&I refused to take responsibility for retrieving the
August 2025
