Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said on Wednesday he is happy China is cooperating into an investigation into a destroyed Baltic pipeline, but warned it was too soon to say what had happened.
He was responding to a question about the admission that a Chinese-owned ship had accidentally destroyed the Balticconnector gas pipe running between Finland and Estonia last October, first reported by the South China Morning Post on Monday.
“Finnish and Estonian authorities are working in cooperation with Chinese authorities on this matter,” Orpo said, but added that he could not offer more detail because the “investigation is not closed”.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Estonian counterpart Kristen Michal in Helsinki on Wednesday, he also said: “I’m also happy that China and Chinese authorities have been cooperating, but we cannot do any conclusions before we have the investigation. But I promise that when the investigation is ready, we will tell all.”
China recently sent the two countries the results of an internal investigation, which said the NewNew Polar Bear cargo ship had damaged the pipeline, but it was an accident that happened during a storm.
While the Chinese-language account was shared with the two countries, but is not admissible as evidence in an ongoing criminal probe led by the Finnish authorities.
The joint criminal inquiry is centred on the container ship, which was flying the Hong Kong flag at the time. Its registered owner is the Chinese mainland firm NewNew Shipping Line.
The ship is believed to have dragged its 6,000kg (1,300lbs) anchor across the seabed and sliced through the cables. It was found metres from the site.
“Estonia and Finland have made official requests to China for different documentations on the case, so we have certain acknowledgements. But as Petteri [Orpo] said, until the case is closed and until the investigation has closed, we cannot give the final conclusions about that,” Estonia’s Michal said.
The Estonian leader – who was on his maiden foreign trip after becoming prime minister last month – added “hopefully these kind of developments will clear up who will pick up the bill, but we will see – the investigation is still ongoing”.
In response to media questions about the Post’s report, the Chinese foreign ministry said it was “advancing the investigation based on facts and laws, and maintaining close communication with relevant countries”.
“China has always advocated that the international community should strengthen cooperation and jointly safeguard the safety of submarine infrastructure,” Lin Jian, a spokesman for the ministry, told a regular press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.
“We hope that all parties will continue to advance the investigation with a professional, objective and cooperative attitude, and jointly ensure that the incident is properly handled.”
The report has sparked a frenzied debate in the Baltic Sea countries. On Tuesday, Estonia’s Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur voiced scepticism about the claim it was an accident.
“Personally, I find it very difficult to understand how a ship’s captain could fail to notice for such a long time that its anchor had been dragging along the seabed, but it is up to the prosecutor’s office to complete the investigation,” Pevkur told public broadcaster ERR.
Repair work on the pipeline finished in April at a cost of €35 million (US$38.3 million), but Pevkur said it was unlikely that Beijing would foot the bill.
“Given the practical realities, it is very hard to assume that China’s position here will change and when they maintain that this was an accident, then they are likely to stick to their stance that they have nothing to compensate for,” he said.
