Captain Pleads Not Guilty as China Prosecutes for Baltic Cable Damage
The slow-moving prosecution of the master of the Hong Kong-registered containership NewNew Polar Bear took its next step on Wednesday, February 11. Captain Wan Wenguo officially entered a plea of not guilty in a Hong Kong court to the charges that his vessel, in October 2023, damaged telecom cables and a gas pipeline in the Baltic.
Chinese officials had promised to cooperate in the effort after Finnish prosecutors identified the containership as the suspect in the anchor-dragging incident that damaged the infrastructure. China announced it would prosecute Wan, a 44-year-old Chinese national, and he made his first court appearance in May 2025. In January 2026, the defense team requested more time to review the evidence against the captain.
Finland and Estonia conducted an investigation after the Russian communications cable and two cables between Estonia and Finland were damaged on October 7, 2023, followed by the damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline the next day. Finland recovered a ship’s anchor from the seabed and identified extensive drag marks, and later the anchor was matched to the missing bow anchor of the containership. The NewNew Polar Bear was conducting a historic first trip for the Chinese using the Northern Sea Route, traveling from China to Saint Petersburg, Russia, and back to China.
The Hong Kong court charged Wan with one count of “reckless” operation of the vessel and two additional charges related to safety violations. One relates to operating the ship without an anchor and not reporting the loss of the anchor, and the other relates to not filing regular reports with the shipowner. Wan entered a plea of not guilty to each count.
Finnish prosecutors told Reuters that China has not responded to the outreach from their office or from Estonia. The Chinese defense lawyer said last month that they were expecting 18 witnesses to appear, including members of the vessel’s crew, Hong Kong officials, and maritime experts.
While the damage has been documented, experts highlight that the problem in each of the cases related to the damage of subsea Baltic assets has been proving intent. Finland last fall prosecuted the captain and two officers from another vessel, the shadow fleet tanker Eagle S, on similar charges of damaging subsea cables. The defense argued that it was an operational issue with the vessel and claimed the crew was not aware it was dragging its anchor. The case was dismissed by a court in Helsinki, however, on a jurisdictional issue after the court found the damage happened in international waters.
There have been several other instances of similar reports of ships dragging their anchors in the Gulf of Finland region. On December 31, 2025, Finland detained another ship, the Fitburg, also accusing it of dragging its anchor and damaging subsea infrastructure. Finland detained several members of the crew and continues to investigate the incident.
The 2023 incident with the NewNew Polar Bear and subsequent occurrences raised the awareness of the Baltic countries to the dangers and gave rise to accusations of hybrid warfare by the Russians. It resulted in increased monitoring efforts and patrols by the countries, along with NATO support. Russia continues to deny involvement in any of the incidents.
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