On November 18, 2024, Cinia reported that a “fault has been detected in the Cinia Oy C-Lion1 submarine cable between Finland and Germany and corrective measures have been initiated.”
The cause of the cable fault is unknown. Cinia has submitted a request for investigation to the [Finnish] National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on 19 November 2024.
Corrective measures have been initiated. According to current information, the repair vessel Cable Vigilance will leave Calais, France, on Thursday 21 November at 7 p.m. (EET) and is expected to start repair work on Monday at the latest, depending on weather conditions. Estimated completion of the cable repair is by the end of November.
On November 19, 2024, Newsweek reported:
On Monday, Finnish company Cinia, which constructs fiber optic networks and provides telecommunications services, said a “fault” has been detected in the C-Lion1 submarine cable. “Due to the fault, the services provided over the C-Lion1 are down,” it announced….
“The fact that such an incident immediately raises suspicions of intentional damage speaks volumes about the volatility of our times. A thorough investigation is underway,” Finland and Germany said in a joint statement, which were deeply concerned about the incident.
“Our European security is not only under threat from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors,” they added. “Safeguarding our shared critical infrastructure is vital to our security and the resilience of our societies.”
On November 19, 2024, CNN reported:
A communications cable between Lithuania and Sweden was cut on Sunday morning around 10:00 a.m. local time, a spokesperson from telecommunications company Telia Lithuania confirmed to CNN….
The United States recently warned that it had detected increased Russian military activity around key undersea cables….
However, two US officials familiar with an initial assessment into the damage to the two cables told CNN Tuesday that as yet there were “no indications of nefarious activity, nor intentional damage to seafloor infrastructure” and suggested the disruption was likely caused by an anchor dragged from a passing vessel.
On November 21, 2024, Associated Press reported that the Danish military was “monitoring a Chinese bulk carrier that was reportedly in the area where two undersea data cables ruptured in recent days in the Baltic Sea.”
Finnish, Swedish and German authorities have launched investigations into the rupture earlier this week of two undersea cables—one between Finland and Germany, the other between Lithuania and Sweden. All are member countries of the NATO alliance.
News reports said a Chinese-flagged vessel, the Yi Peng 3, had been in the area at the time of the ruptures….
The ruptures come more than a year after Sweden announced a “purposeful” rupture of an undersea cable to Estonia through the Black Sea, which was also not explained.
“Monitoring” seems to be a euphemism for “detaining.” A Danish military spokesman says that the Danish Defence is “in the area near the Chinese ship Yi Peng 3.” Meanwhile, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lin Jian, has “called for the Chinese ship’s rights to normal navigation to be protected,” i.e., that the Yi Peng 3 not be detained.
