Newnew Polar Bear captain arrested in Hong Kong over Baltic Sea cable break
The captain of the Hong Kong-flagged container ship accused of breaking the undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia has been remanded in custody in Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post reports.
The 77km pipeline was broken on October 8, 2023 by the ship dragging its anchor, Finland and Estonia's security services found. China admitted the breakage was an accident in August 2024.
Wan Wenguo, 43, appeared in court on Thursday (May 8) to face a count of criminal damage and two charges for alleged violations of local marine by-laws during the NewNew Polar Bear's voyage from October to December of 2023, the website said.
Prosecutors held the defendant liable for the damages caused to Balticconnector.
Wan is also accused of breaching navigation safety protocols by failing to ensure the ship had enough anchors and of not making daily reports to the vessel's owner, breaching two regulations under the Merchant Shipping (Safety) Ordinance.
The court scheduled the next hearing for early July and Wan will remain in custody until then.
After the cable was broken, both Estonia and Finland appealed to China for help with the case but had not heard anything by last November. Experts believed the likelihood of seeing justice was slim to none.
Repairing the Balticconnector pipeline cost €35 million.
--
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Editor: Helen Wright
