When two fiber-optic cables were severed under the Baltic Sea last month, European officials acted fast, with some declaring sabotage. They sent coast guard vessels to halt a Chinese-flagged commercial ship that their governments suspected of involvement.

上月，两条波罗的海海底光缆被切断后，欧洲官员迅速采取行动，一些人称其为蓄意破坏。他们怀疑一艘悬挂中国国旗的商船与此有关，派出海岸警卫队船只予以拦截。

That was 23 days ago.

那是23天前的事了。

Today, the ship, the Yi Peng 3, remains anchored in the Baltic Sea, watched over by a rotating host of coast guard vessels while Sweden, Finland and Lithuania investigate. But if officials have gained any greater insight into what happened to the cables — or whether the ship was involved — they are not saying.

如今，这艘名为“伊鹏三号”的船只仍停泊在波罗的海，在瑞典、芬兰和立陶宛展开调查期间，由海岸警卫队轮流监视。但是，就算官员们对电缆情况或者这艘船是否涉及其中有了更深入的了解，他们也没有透露。

Asked for an update, Sweden’s foreign ministry referred to a statement from last month about the need to “await the findings of this investigation.” A spokesperson for Sweden’s Prosecution Authority reiterated that the matter was being jointly investigated, but said no further details were available.

在被问及有无进一步的消息时，瑞典外交部提到了上个月的一份声明，称需要“等待调查结果”。瑞典检察机关发言人重申，正在对此事进行联合调查，但表示没有进一步的细节。

China’s foreign ministry said in a statement to The Times that it was “maintaining close communication” with the European countries involved, but had nothing more to add.

中国外交部在给时报的声明中表示，正与有关欧洲国家“保持顺畅沟通”，但没有更多补充。

The mystery surrounding the Yi Peng 3 comes at a time of heightened anxiety in Europe after a number of apparent acts of sabotage around the continent, including arson, vandalism and physical assaults.

围绕“伊鹏三号”的神秘事件发生之际，欧洲大陆出现了一系列明显的破坏行为，包括纵火、破坏和人身攻击，这令欧洲的焦虑加剧。

European officials have attributed many of these, including a plot detailed last month to place incendiary devices on planes, to Russia. Last week, Estonian officials described a scheme by Russia’s military intelligence service to pay locals to commit acts of vandalism, including breaking the windows of cars belonging to the country’s interior minister and an editor of a local news outlet.

欧洲官员将其中许多事件归咎于俄罗斯，包括上个月予以详细披露的在飞机上放置燃烧装置的阴谋。上周，爱沙尼亚官员描述了俄罗斯军事情报机构的一项计划——付钱让当地人从事破坏行为，包括打破该国内政部长和当地一家新闻媒体主编的车窗玻璃。

“Russia realizes that it cannot match the United States militarily after the setbacks it had in Ukraine and is looking for other ways to pressure and disrupt the Western countries,” Christopher P. Maier, a U.S. assistant secretary of defense, said in an interview published this week by a Swedish news outlet, Svenska Dagbladet. “We therefore expect to see more types of sabotage and other disruptive and subversive incidents.”

“在乌克兰遭遇挫折后，俄罗斯意识到自己无法在军事上与美国匹敌，正在寻找其他方式向西方国家施压，并扰乱它们，”美国国防部助理部长克里斯托弗·迈尔本周接受瑞典新闻媒体《瑞典日报》采访时说。“因此，我们预计会看到更多类型的破坏，以及其他破坏性、颠覆性事件。”

The Baltic Sea in particular has increasingly become a key arena for geopolitical machinations of various kinds, mostly related to competition between the West and Russia. NATO periodically scrambles fighter jets to intercept Russian military aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea, and each fall, countries of the western alliance hold major naval exercises there called Freezing Winds.

尤其是波罗的海，它日益成为各种地缘政治阴谋的关键舞台，大部分与西方和俄罗斯之间的竞争有关。北约定期出动战斗机拦截飞越波罗的海的俄罗斯军机，每年秋天，北约成员都会在那里举行名为“寒风”的大型海军演习。

In summer 2022, explosions ripped through several sections of the Nord Stream pipeline beneath the Baltic, cutting off Western Europe from Russian natural gas deliveries. U.S. intelligence services have assessed that a pro-Ukrainian group carried out the attack, but public details remain sparse.

2022年夏天，波罗的海海底北溪天然气管道多个部分发生爆炸，切断了西欧与俄罗斯的天然气供应。美国情报机构评估称，袭击由亲乌克兰组织实施，但公开的细节仍然很少。

Exactly who, if anyone, is responsible for cutting the two fiber-optic cables on the Baltic Sea floor is still unclear. Shortly after they were severed, the foreign ministries of Germany and Finland issued a rare joint statement warning of “hybrid warfare by malicious actors” aimed at Europe’s critical infrastructure.

目前尚不清楚切断波罗的海海底两条光缆的确切责任方——如果有的话。光缆被切断后不久，德国和芬兰的外交部罕见地发表了一份联合声明，警告“恶意行为者的混合战争”将针对欧洲的关键基础设施。

“Nobody believes that these cables were severed by accident,” Germany’s minister of defense, Boris Pistorius, told reporters last month, although investigators have not ruled out that the episode was indeed an accident.

“没有人相信这些电缆是被意外切断的，”德国国防部长鲍里斯·皮斯托瑞斯上月对记者说，不过调查人员并未排除这一事件确属意外的可能性。

Taiwanese officials have suggested that Chinese ships may have dropped their anchors and dragged them to intentionally sever cables servicing Taiwan, and last year a Chinese-flagged ship called the Newnew Polar Bear dropped its anchor and cut through a gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia. That ship was allowed to sail into international waters before authorities had a chance to investigate. Officials appear unwilling to give the Yi Peng 3 the same opportunity.

台湾官员曾表示，中国船只可能抛锚拖拽，故意切断为台湾服务的电缆。去年，一艘悬挂中国国旗的船只“新新北极熊号”抛锚切断了芬兰和爱沙尼亚之间的天然气管道。在当局进行调查之前，这艘船被允许驶入国际水域。官员们似乎不愿给“伊鹏三号”同样的机会。

The container ship set off from the Russian port of Ust-Luga in the Baltic Sea on Nov. 15, according to Marine Traffic, a commercial ship tracking agency. From there, it traveled nearly the full length of the Baltic Sea. The first cable, connecting Lithuania and Sweden, was cut on the morning of Nov. 17. The second, connecting Finland and Germany, was cut the next morning.

据商业船舶跟踪机构“海洋交通”称，这艘集装箱船于11月15日从波罗的海的俄罗斯乌斯特-卢加港出发，几乎穿越了整个波罗的海。11月17日上午，第一条连接立陶宛和瑞典的电缆被切断。连接芬兰和德国的第二条电缆于第二天上午被切断。

Calls to the company which owns the ship, Ningbo Yipeng Shipping, have gone unanswered, though Chinese officials have said the government is in communication with Denmark and Sweden about the case.

记者致电该船所属公司宁波伊鹏海运有限公司，但无人接听电话，不过中国官员表示，政府正就此案与丹麦和瑞典进行沟通。

"China has always required Chinese ships to operate in compliance with the law,” the foreign ministry statement said. “At the same time, we also pay close attention to the infringement of the normal navigation rights and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese ships.”

“中方一贯……要求中国的船只严格遵守相关的法律法规，”中国外交部的声明称。“同时，我们希望中国船只的正常航行权利和合法权益得到有效保护。”

The Yi Peng 3 remains anchored just where it has been for more than three weeks, about equidistant from the shores of Denmark and Sweden, roughly 60 miles northwest of Copenhagen, in the Kattegat Strait. Nearby, according to the latest update from Marine Traffic, are German and Danish coast guard vessels. A Swedish coast guard ship that had been shadowing the Yi Peng 3 left the area on Monday.

“伊鹏三号”在原地停泊了三个多星期，位于哥本哈根西北约96公里的卡特加特海峡，距离丹麦和瑞典海岸的距离大致相当。根据海上交通的最新消息，附近有德国和丹麦海岸警卫队的船只。周一，一艘一直跟随“伊鹏三号”的瑞典海岸警卫队船只离开了该地区。

“Since the situation is static, and has been for a while, we are dispatching our resources elsewhere for other duties,” a spokesman for the Swedish Coast Guard, Matthias Lindholm, said in an email.

瑞典海岸警卫队发言人马蒂亚斯·林德霍尔姆在电子邮件中说，“由于局势一直没有变化，而且已经持续了一段时间，我们正在把资源派往其他地方执行其他任务。”

There is no limit to the length of time ships like the Yi Peng 3 can stay at sea, Mr. Lindholm said, adding that should the captain desire, additional supplies could be delivered for the crew.

林德霍尔姆说，像“伊鹏三号”这样的船只在海上停留的时间没有限制。他还说，如果船长愿意，可以为船员提供额外的补给。