A Togolese cargo ship with a Chinese crew is suspected of having something to do with damage to the Taiwan-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable.

Coast Guard personnel carefully boarded a “Hong Tai” freighter that had been loitering around Taiwan’s southwestern coast since Saturday evening in order to investigate whether it is related to the Taiwan-Penghu No. 3 cable break. The Togolese vessel carried a “flag of convenience,” meaning it flies the flag of a country other than the country of ownership, and was crewed by eight Chinese nationals.

The ship dropped anchor in the wee hours of Tuesday morning about six miles northwest of Jiangjun Fishing Harbor. After the Tainan fleet branch of the Coast Guard broadcasted a warning, it began sailing northwest. At about 3:24 a.m., Chunghwa Telecom reported that the submarine cable had been disconnected. Tainan Coast Guard boat 10079 was dispatched and escorted the vessel to Anping Port around noon.

Was it an accident, or was it intentional? Given the shady background of the ship, authorities are not ruling out the possibility of grey-zone warfare. After all, this is not the first time undersea telecommunications cables around Taiwan have been suspiciously damaged. A similar incident occurred just last month off the northern coast. 

Considering how crucial this infrastructure is to cross-continent data traffic, keeping undersea cables stable is a matter of national security.

Hanna Bilinski for Rti News