Captain Appears in Hong Kong Court on Charges From 2023 Pipeline Break

In what appears to be a surprise development in the two-year-old case related to the damage of a gas pipeline in the Baltic, China on Thursday charged the captain of the containership suspected in the incident with a criminal charge related to the incident. The South China Morning Post reported the development saying that the captain of the containership Newnew Polar Bear was taken into custody in Hong Kong after appearing in court.

The 43-year-old Chinese captain of the containership, Wan Wenguo, appeared in a Hong Kong court on May 8, on one criminal charge for causing damage to the Balticconnector, a natural gas pipeline running between Estonia and Finland, and damage to a communication cable. The South China Morning Post listed the charges as “a breach of navigation safety protocols by failing to ensure the ship had enough anchors.” The captain also faces two charges of not making daily reports to the vessel’s owner.

News of the charges appeared to come as a surprise to the authorities in Finland and Estonia, which are conducting a joint investigation. Last month, the Finnish newspapers reported that the investigators had requested information from China and were still waiting for a response. Over the two years, there have been several reports that China was hindering the investigation, and while acknowledging the vessel had damaged the undersea infrastructure blamed the damage on bad weather.

Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation issued a statement today saying its investigation with Estonia was ongoing. It noted cooperation with Chinese authorities while saying details about the developments would have to come from the authorities in China and Hong Kong. They acknowledged several meetings and exchanges of information with the authorities in China and Hong Kong.

Wan is a Chinese national, but the ship at the time was registered in Hong Kong. It was operating for a Chinese shipping company that highlighted the opening of the container route between China and St. Petersburg, Russia, using the Northern Sea Route through the Arctic.

The vessel was in the Gulf of Finland, starting a return trip to China, when on October 8, the gas and telecom lines were damaged. The Finnish authorities later recovered a broken anchor and reported a drag trail on the seabed. It was the first of the incidents that led to allegations of deliberate sabotage efforts in the Baltic.

The South China Morning Post reports the captain is being held pre-trial. The next hearing was scheduled for July, it reports, allowing time for further investigations.