Gas pipe damage|Newnew Polar Bear carried dangerous cargo such as flammable liquids and corrosive substances.
Estonian public broadcasting company ERR got hold of a recording of a message exchange between a crew member of the freighter Newnew Polar Bear and the Estonian authorities shortly before the ship’s anchor broke the Balticconnector gas pipeline in October 2023.
The discussion begins when the crew of the Hong Kong-flagged ship contacts the Estonian authorities on October 7 at 5:17 p.m. and says they are arriving in Estonian territorial waters.
In the usual exchange of messages between the crew and the authorities, the number of the ship’s crew and what kind of cargo the ship carries are discussed. A crew member of the Newnew Polar Bear says that the ship is carrying dangerous cargo. Next, in the exchange of messages, the technical information of the cargo is reviewed.
The amount of cargo is reported as 8,339 tons. Mightily by the ship’s 12 containers contained, according to the IMO classifications of dangerous substances, e.g. flammable liquids, corrosive substances and easily self-igniting substances.
Finally, the crew is said to be 21 people, after which the discussion ends. The conversation was held in English and according to Yle, it appears from the recording that the person communicating with the Estonian authorities was Chinese.
Hour after the ship had arrived in Estonian territorial waters, it damaged the communication cable between Estonia and Sweden with its anchor. After seven hours, the ship hit the Balticconnector gas pipeline with its anchor.
The damage to the gas pipe was discovered in the morning of October 8, when Gasgrid Finland and the Estonian gas grid operator Elering noticed unusual pressure in the pipe.
After this, the ship damaged the communication cable between Estonia and Finland with its still broken anchor.
By the evening of the eighth of October, the Chinese ship had reached the port of St. Petersburg in Russia. China admitted in August this year that the Newnew Polar Bear ship had accidentally destroyed the gas pipeline.
Balticconnector was re-commissioned in April this year. The Central Criminal Police is still investigating what happened.
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