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C-Lion1 submarine telecommunications cable severed between Finland and Germany, with Yi Peng 3 implicated.

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On 18 November 2024, the C-Lion1 submarine telecommunications cable connecting Finland and Germany was severed in the Baltic Sea, causing a complete interruption of services transmitted through the connection. Finnish telecommunications operator Cinia detected the failure at 04:04 Finnish time and subsequently identified the damaged section within Sweden’s Exclusive Economic Zone, east of the southern tip of Öland. The 1,173-kilometre cable, operational since 2016, provided a direct telecommunications connection between Finland and Central Europe, making it an important component of regional communications infrastructure. The damage occurred less than 24 hours after the BCS East-West Interlink cable between Lithuania and Sweden had been severed, prompting concerns about possible coordinated attacks against Baltic underwater infrastructure. Investigators focused on the Chinese-flagged bulk carrier Yi Peng 3, which had departed Russia’s port of Ust-Luga on 15 November and passed near both damaged cable locations around the times of the failures.

Occurrence
Publication
First observed
Review status
Not assessed
Countries
Germany, Finland
Updated

Attribution

Pattern-compatible

Facts

No facts

Sources

  1. Role
    Discovery lead
    Publication

    On 18 November 2024, the C-Lion1 submarine telecommunications cable connecting Finland and Germany was severed in the Baltic Sea, causing a complete interruption of services transmitted through the connection. Finnish telecommunications operator Cinia detected the failure at 04:04 Finnish time and subsequently identified the damaged section within Sweden’s Exclusive Economic Zone, east of the southern tip of Öland. The 1,173-kilometre cable, operational since 2016, provided a direct telecommunications connection between Finland and Central Europe, making it an important component of regional communications infrastructure. The damage occurred less than 24 hours after the BCS East-West Interlink cable between Lithuania and Sweden had been severed, prompting concerns about possible coordinated attacks against Baltic underwater infrastructure. Investigators focused on the Chinese-flagged bulk carrier Yi Peng 3, which had departed Russia’s port of Ust-Luga on 15 November and passed near both damaged cable locations around the times of the failures.