Western officials believe that Moscow likely orchestrated the Baltic Sea incident as part of growing efforts to cripple key maritime infrastructure.

Investigators reportedly believe that the Yi Peng 3, a Chinese-registered bulk carrier, deliberately cut the cables by dragging its anchor along the Baltic seabed for about 160km.

Sweden is asking a Chinese vessel to return to Swedish waters to help facilitate an investigation into recent breaches of undersea fibre-optic cables in the Baltic Sea, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Tuesday,

International investigators reportedly believe the crew aboard Yi Peng 3, a bulk carrier full of Russian fertilizer, dragged its anchor for more than 100 miles across the Baltic seabed, damaging the cables that run across it.

The crew of the Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng is suspected of cutting communication cables in the Baltic Sea. It has been under the protection of European warships in international waters for a week, The Wall Street Journal informs.

NATO warships have surrounded Yi Peng 3, a Chinese bulk carrier at the center of an international probe into suspected sabotage.

Sweden has demanded that the Chinese vessel connected to an investigation of two Internet cables in the Baltic Sea being damaged earlier this month return to its waters as part of the probe.

Sweden’s prime minister has urged a Chinese ship linked to the cutting of two cables to move into Swedish waters, as the country steps up its investigation of the potential incident of sabotage in the Baltic Sea.

Sweden is asking that a Chinese vessel moves into Swedish waters to help facilitate the Nordic country's investigation into recent breaches of undersea fibre-optic cables in the Baltic Sea, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Tuesday.