Brief
Chinese cargo ship linked to sabotage of Baltic undersea cables, author warns of rising hybrid attacks
Author Elisabeth Braw says the Yi Peng 3’s actions illustrate a surge in covert undersea sabotage that could threaten global connectivity.
By Felo News Desk · Published
According to the New York Post, a Chinese‑flagged cargo ship named Yi Peng 3 is accused of physically severing two undersea communications cables in the Baltic Sea in November 2024, an incident the author of a new book on undersea warfare says signals a rise in hybrid attacks on critical infrastructure.
What happened
On 15 November 2024 the Yi Peng 3 left the Russian port of Ust‑Luga carrying mineral fertilizer and entered the Baltic Sea. Two days later it crossed an undersea cable linking Sweden and Lithuania, after which the line went silent. Within the next 24 hours the ship passed the sole cable connecting Finland and Germany, which also lost service. European investigators later confirmed both cables had been physically cut and that the Yi Peng 3 was present at each site.
What the reports add
The article notes that the affected countries could only request assistance from China, which declined to cooperate. It also describes a pattern of related incidents: mysterious fires at weapons factories in Estonia, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria; a Romanian Air Force operation on 20 August 2024 that shot down an intruding robotic boat near a Black Sea gas platform; and a September 2024 FBI indictment of five individuals tied to Russian intelligence for soliciting arson and murder worldwide, including in the United States.
What was said
The Post quotes security experts who label these incidents “hybrid attacks,” a term that denotes actions carried out in a gray zone between war and diplomacy, allowing perpetrators to maintain plausible deniability. The article also references author Elisabeth Braw, whose forthcoming book “Undersea War: The Battle to Control the Cables and Pipelines That Connect Our World” examines the vulnerability of the global network of undersea cables and pipelines.
How it came about
The sabotage follows heightened geopolitical tension involving Russia and China, as highlighted in recent Felo News coverage of Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and EU‑China trade talks. Braw’s book builds on this context, arguing that the increasing frequency of covert attacks on undersea assets could undermine the modern digital economy.
Key facts
- The Chinese‑flagged cargo ship Yi Peng 3 left Ust‑Luga on 15 Nov 2024 carrying mineral fertilizer. (nypost.com)
- The ship was present when cables linking Sweden‑Lithuania and Finland‑Germany were cut, causing both lines to go dark. (nypost.com)
- China declined to assist the affected countries in the investigation. (nypost.com)
- Security experts describe the incidents as "hybrid attacks" that blur war and diplomacy. (nypost.com)
- Author Elisabeth Braw’s new book warns that undersea cables and pipelines are increasingly vulnerable to sabotage. (nypost.com)
Sources
- [1] nypost.com — originally reported as “Russia and China are targeting vital underwater cables in terrifying ways that could send us back to the Dark Ages, a new book reveals”
