Earlier than planned: Data cable between Finland and Germany also repaired
Less than two weeks after two data cables were damaged in the Baltic Sea, both have been repaired. The investigations are still ongoing and the work has begun.
(Image: Cinia)
Just eleven days after the damage to the C-Lion1 submarine cable between Finland and Germany, the damage has now been repaired and the connection restored. The operator Cinia announced this on Friday and assured that the data cable is now fully functional again. The repair was completed ahead of schedule on Thursday evening, even though the necessary repair ship had to come from France. "The repair work was accelerated by the smooth and efficient cooperation with the authorities," added Cinia CEO Ari-Jussi Knaapila. The cable damage caused only "minimal disruption" for customers and the Finnish company.
Fingers pointing at Russia
Cinia also points out that the cause of the damage has not yet been clarified. Investigations into this are still ongoing. The state-owned company from Finland itself requested this on November 19, one day after the data cable was damaged. For days, the focus has been on a Chinese cargo ship, the "Yi Peng 3". It was traveling over the cable at the time of the damage and apparently also temporarily deactivated its radio signal for identification (AIS) at the time. Something similar was observed with a second cable that was damaged at almost the same time.
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Shortly before the C-Lion1 submarine cable between Finland and Germany , the communication cable between Sweden and Lithuania, which was also damaged, has now also been repaired. This means that the interrupted connections have been restored in less than two weeks. Although investigations into the background to the incident are ongoing, few in the European Union believe it was a coincidence. In a debate in the EU Parliament, the majority of speakers left no doubt that they assume an act of sabotage and suspect Russia as the mastermind. Various measures were called for in order to better counter such actions.
(mho)
