On February 11, in a Hong Kong court, the captain of the container ship NewNew Polar Bear, Wang Wengo, officially pleaded not guilty. He is accused of causing criminal damage to underwater infrastructure between Finland and Estonia in October 2023, which became one of the most resonant incidents in the Baltic region in recent years. This is reported by Reuters, writes UNN.
Details
During the hearing, the 44-year-old Chinese citizen denied the charges of "negligently damaging other people's property without legal grounds." The case concerns the rupture of the Balticconnector gas pipeline and several telecommunication cables, which, according to the investigation, were damaged by the ship's anchor dragging along the bottom for a long time. The captain's lawyer emphasized that the incident was a maritime accident, not deliberate sabotage.
The Hong Kong court is hearing this case because the NewNew Polar Bear vessel is registered in this special administrative region of China. This gives Hong Kong jurisdiction the right to try the crew for offenses committed in international waters. Currently, 18 witnesses are scheduled to be questioned, including crew members, representatives of Hong Kong maritime authorities, and international navigation experts.
International context and investigative evidence
Finnish and Estonian investigators previously found a detached anchor at the accident site, which, by type and serial numbers, corresponds to the equipment of the NewNew Polar Bear. The investigation claims that the vessel did not stop after the incident and continued to move with the anchor raised, which led to damage to critical NATO energy infrastructure.
The maximum penalty that Wang Wengo faces if found guilty is two years in prison.
At the same time, investigations are ongoing in the region regarding other vessels, including the Chinese dry cargo ship Yi Peng 3, whose captain was a Russian, and the oil tanker Eagle S.