Captain pleads not guilty to damaging Baltic Sea gas pipeline in Hong Kong court

The captain of a Hong Kong-flagged container ship has denied responsibility for severing a critical Baltic Sea gas pipeline linking Estonia and Finland three years ago.Wan Wenguo, 43, from mainland China, pleaded not guilty at Eastern Court on Wednesday to one count of criminal damage relating to the severed section of the 77km (47.8-mile) Balticconnector, a natural gas pipeline that supplies Finland, and to a nearby telecommunications cable linking Finland and Estonia.The damage allegedly occurred when the NewNew Polar Bear sailed through the Finland" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="28574" data-entity-type="location">Gulf of Finland on October 8, 2023.He also pleaded not guilty to two summary charges of breaching navigation safety rules, including failing to ensure the vessel was equipped with enough anchors and neglecting to submit daily reports to its owner during the voyage from October to December that year – both offences under the Merchant Shipping (Safety) Ordinance.Prosecutors said a total of 18 witnesses, including three experts, would testify at the trial.Defence counsel Jerry Chung Ming-shing said the defendant would take the stand.Chung revealed that the defence would contest the captain’s liability for the alleged damage, the accuracy of crew testimonies and technical issues concerning the vessel’s operations.